US Senate committee asks carmakers about Chinese supply chain

The US Senate finance committee has asked eight major carmakers, including General Motors, Tesla and Ford, to disclose whether any of their components are linked to alleged forced labour in China, according to letters made public on Thursday.

In June, a US law took effect banning the import of forced labour goods from Xinjiang, in a pushback against Beijing's treatment of China's Uyghur Muslim minority, which Washington has labelled genocide.

Senate finance committee chair Ron Wyden wrote to the CEOs of major carmakers inquiring about Chinese supply chain issues, saying “it is vital that carmakers scrutinise their relationships with all suppliers linked to Xinjiang”.

Beijing denies abuses in Xinjiang, but says it established “vocational training centres” to curb terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism.

The letters, which were also sent to Toyota, Volkswagen, Chrysler parent Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz, said “unless due diligence confirms components are not linked to forced labour, carmakers cannot and should not sell cars in the US that include components mined or produced in Xinjiang”.

Wyden wants to know whether the carmakers have ever cancelled or curtailed use of any supplier “because of its use of raw materials, mining, processing or parts manufacturing linked to Xinjiang?”

He cited a new report released earlier this month by researchers at Britain's Sheffield Hallam University on the car industry's use of steel, aluminium, copper, batteries, electronics and other components produced in Xinjiang.

“Between raw materials mining/processing and car parts manufacturing, we found practically every part of the car would require heightened scrutiny to ensure it was free of Uyghur forced labour,” the report said.

GM said on Thursday it monitors its global supply chain and its supplier contracts forbid the use of any “forced or involuntary labour, abusive treatment of employees or corrupt business practices in the supplying of goods and services to GM”.

Honda said it expects suppliers to follow its global sustainability guidelines with respect to labour. Stellantis said “building strong responsible supply chains is an important focus for us” and it monitors suppliers' compliance with its code of conduct through contractual commitments and ongoing evaluations.

Volkswagen said it would respond to the Senate letter and it takes corporate responsibility seriously and rejects “forced labour and all forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking”.

The other carmakers either did not comment or did not immediately comment.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union this month called on carmakers to shift their entire supply chain out of China's Xinjiang region, saying “the time is now for the industry to establish high road supply chain models outside the Uyghur region that protect labour and human rights and the environment”.