US bans imports of Chinese company Ninestar due to Uyghurs

(Patria) - The US has banned imports from Chinese printer manufacturer Ninestar Corp and a Chinese chemical company due to alleged human rights violations, Reuters reported.

Ninestar, which states on its website that it is the fourth-largest laser printer manufacturer in the world, and Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical have been kept out of the US supply chain due to their involvement in business practices targeting Uyghurs in China and other persecuted groups, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced.

UN experts and human rights groups estimate that over a million people, mostly Uyghurs and Muslim minorities, have been detained in camps in China's western Xinjiang region in recent years, and many say they have been subjected to ideological training and abuse. China has denied all allegations.

The DHS stated that the actions were taken as part of the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which was signed into law in December 2021. Twenty-two companies are on the list, and the DHS says it has examined goods worth more than $1.3 billion that were likely produced with forced labor nearly a year after the UFLPA was implemented.

Ninestar and its eight subsidiaries based in Zhuhai, along with Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical, have been added to the list with the Xinjiang government for recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups from Xinjiang, it was announced.