Gloves linked to forced labor in China stopped at LA port

A shipment of women’s gloves at a California port has been traced to a factory that uses forced labor of people caught up in a brutal crackdown on ethnic mirities in China, U.S. authorities said Thursday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said shipment of 1,900 pairs of gloves will be held at Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach unless American company that was seeking to import material can prove it wasn't me with forced labor.

Overland, a retailer based in Fairfield, Iowa, was seeking to import gloves and says it has provided proof to Customs that goods were t me with forced labor and should be released.

Customs said gloves were me by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Company in Xinjiang, a region of rthwestern China where government has imprisoned more than 1 million Uighurs and or mostly Muslim mirities as part of an ethnic assimilation campaign.

Last month, Trump ministration identified Yili as one of several companies suspected of forcing people into equivalent of modern-day slavery and said it would be prohibited from importing goods into United States.

ministration, which has clashed with China on a range of issues, including tre and coronavirus outbreak, has also increased enforcement of a U.S. law that bans importation of goods me with forced labor.

Under law, importer generally has three months to submit proof that goods are t tainted. If t goods are seized and typically destroyed.

Overland, which specializes in outerwear, said an independent inspection company in China evaluated conditions at facility in Xinjiang and determined re were abusive conditions, said Linda Vivier, director of inventory of family-owned company.

“Obviously, Overland wants to make sure everybody is safe and well taken care of, and that's reason we have this third-party inspection company that can go to each factory and make sure that everybody is being treated well and fairly and that we are in compliance,” Vivier said.

ir report has been submitted to Customs and Border Protection and y are awaiting a response and hope to retrieve gloves.

Labor and human rights groups say it's impossible to conduct legitimate inspections in Xinjiang because of oppressive conditions. Chinese Communist Party has an intensive surveillance network as part of its campaign to force ethnically distinct mirities to assimilate into dominant culture. U.S. officials say it's up to companies doing business in United States to ensure ir supply chains are free of material me under coercive conditions.

“CBP will t tolerate modern slavery in U.S. commerce,” Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of ncy's Office of Tre, said in a statement anuncing detention of glove shipment. A bipartisan bill that would declare that all goods manufactured in Xinjiang are product of forced labor, and refore banned from country, passed overwhelmingly last month in House of Representatives. If enacted, it could have significant effects on commerce since region is a major source of cotton and or goods.

China has denied widespre and consistent reports of abuse and mistreatment of Uighurs and or mirities, defending campaign as an effort to crackdown on extremism and claiming detention camps are for vocational and Chinese langu training.