US Releases a Third of Electronics Detained under PRC Forced Labor Act

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Image copyright: AFP/Getty Images [via The Wall Street Journal]

The Facts

  • The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed on Tuesday that it has released over one-third of electronic devices, including solar panels, it had detained since 2022 under the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA)

  • The agency released 552 electronic shipments valued at $345M out of a total of over 1.6K industry shipments worth $841M that was halted for examination. The majority of the shipments reviewed originated from Malaysia and Vietnam with a small fraction coming from Thailand and China.

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The US should be vigorously enforcing the UFLPA to prevent imports linked to forced labor by Uyghurs and other persecuted groups in China. Since 2017, PRC authorities have committed crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang region. The US government should also enforce existing laws to impose financial penalties on companies for importing or attempting to import goods linked to forced labor in China. US Customs must send a message to businesses, China, and th

Human Rights Watch

Establishment-critical narrative

The primary motivation behind US sanctions against China and PRC-made products is fear of its inability to sufficiently keep up with the Asian powerhouse’s rapid scientific and technological advancements. The US obsession with Xinjiang has less to do with human rights and more to do with the fact that a third of the world’s textiles and clothing come from China, and the northwestern province is responsible for 87% of the country’s total cotton output. Ultimately, human rights abuses, real or imagined, are b

CounterPunch

Establishment split

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