Lawmakers Tell Volkswagen to Do Better Job of Avoiding Forced Labor
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China on Feb. 22 urged the Volkswagen Group to improve its compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act following a report that CBP seized thousands of the company’s Audi, Bentley and Porsche cars at U.S. ports for illegally containing parts made with forced labor in Xinjiang, China (see 2402150026).
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In a letter to Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume, Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the committee’s chairman and ranking member, respectively, also called on the company to cease its operations in Xinjiang, where it has operated a factory with China’s state-owned SAIC Motor Corp. since 2013. The facility reportedly has employed Uyghur forced labor, the letter says.
“We request that Volkswagen fully comply with the UFLPA by removing all products from its global supply chain that contain inputs made in whole or in part with forced labor” in China, the lawmakers wrote. “We also urge Volkswagen to cease its operations in Xinjiang, where the U.S. government has determined that the Chinese Communist Party is conducting an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.”
The committee asked Volkswagen to explain by March 5 how it intends to better adhere to the UFLPA, which bans imports from Xinjiang unless importers can verify that the products didn't come from the use of forced labor. President Joe Biden signed the UFLPA into law in December 2021 (see 2112230018).
Volkswagen and CBP didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. However, the company told the Financial Times in mid-February that it was investigating the car parts matter and would take “appropriate steps.” The automaker reportedly has begun replacing the non-compliant parts, which came from a supplier.