A US Senate inquiry found that the leading automakers Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, and Volkswagen had used banned China-made parts in their cars.
A recently released US Congressional report stated that these giant automakers have used auto parts manufactured by a supplier who is on the list of banned firms in the United States.
A number of Chinese auto manufacturer firms are banned in the US for allegations of forced labor.
The US Congressional Report
The report was released by the US Senate Finance Committee. A staff of the committee Chairman Ron Wyden reported that a minimum of 8,000 BMW Mini Cooper cars were imported to the US containing the parts made by the banned company.
The reports also suggested that these cards had components from the banned company namely Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group (JWD).
Upon the release of the reports, BBC requested comments from all three of these big car makers. However, all of them did not make any immediate responses.
Ron Wyden stated that it was clear that the self-policing of the automakers was not doing the job.
Wyden appealed to the US Customs and Border Protection agency to supercharge the current enforcement actions and to crack down on companies that fuel the use of forced labor in China which can only be seen as a shameful act.
He added that automakers were sticking their heads in the sand and then swearing that they could not find any forced labor in their supply chains.
What does the report say?
As per the report, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has imported spare parts from different companies. The automaker also imported spare parts from a banned company named JWD.
It was highlighted that JLR imported spare parts from his company after it was put on the banned list by the US government.
Jaguar’s Response
JLR stated that the particular banned components were used in its prior generation of technology.
The chimney added that these banned components were not present in any of their vehicles currently in sale.
The current report states that Jaguar has identified the spare parts that they imported from the banned firm.
It also added that Jaguar was currently attempting to destroy all the stock that it holds in all parts of the world that were imported from this company.
Volkswagen Response
Earlier in February Volkswagen had stated that more than thousands of its vehicles including even the Porshes and Bentleys do contain a banned component.
Thousands of their vehicles have been held by the US authorities because of the presence of this banned component.
VW also said that they were aware of the fact that the US authorities were holding their 1000+ vehicles because the above-said component was in breach of the anti-forced labor laws prevailing in the United States.
However, Volkswagen had taken the initiative to inform the customs officials.
BMW’s Response
BMW stated that it has already taken all the steps to halt the importation of affected products.
It added that it would be conducting a service action with customer and dealer notification for the affected motor vehicles.
The US Law That Bans Uyghur Forced Labor
In 2021 the US Congress passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The list of banned firms in the automakers’ controversy includes Chinese firms that violate this law.
When a product manufactured in China violates US law, it comes to sale and in the US, the US Financial Bodies show no tolerance towards it. The US has made it very clear that they do not support forced labor.
The UFLPA 2021 prevents the importing of goods from Xinjiang region in northwestern China.
There are subsequent tests that suggest this region made by the people from the minority group in China the Uyghur community has been suffering from forced labour conditions.
China’s Comments
For the past few years, China has been facing allegations of detaining above one million Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region against their will and making it mandatory for them to participate in forced labor.
The Chinese authorities have denied all allegations related to Urghur detention and forced labor in the Chinese territories. They have also turned down all kinds of human rights abuses on their land.
