The Chinese Communist government announced “countermeasures” on Wednesday against the U.S. designation of more Chinese entities under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
China denounced the U.S. listings as “illegal,” without addressing the actual issue of slave labor extracted from oppressed minorities like the Uyghurs.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added 43 more Chinese companies to the list of entities presumed to use slavery last Friday. The affected industries included apparel, agriculture, and aluminum.
“The American worker must not be undercut and cheated by foreign companies that use slave labor. Our job is to defend the Homeland, and that includes protecting our citizens from unfair competition that not only disadvantages Americans, but harms human dignity,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said when announcing the expanded list.
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) responded on Wednesday with:
countermeasures that include strengthening export controls on dual-use items related to UAVs and their key components and technologies to the US; placing six US entities on the countermeasure list for ‘assisting and supporting the US in imposing illegal sanctions related to China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region’; placing a US compliance testing company on the countermeasure list; and initiating a national security investigation into the import of printing and copying office equipment.
“China has decided to strengthen export controls on drone-related dual-use items to the US, in order to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,” MOFCOM added.
Hellbound and Down 