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BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volkswagen have all been implicated in a report that revealed how parts manufactured by ‘forced labourers’ in China found their way into vehicles in the US.

According to the US congressional report, 8,000 BMW Mini Cooper cars were imported into the US with components from banned Chinese firm Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group (JWD).

JWD was added to the UFLPA Entity List in December 2023, which means its products are presumed to be made with forced labour. Importing goods made with forced labour to the United States has been illegal since the 1930s.

The report added Jaguar Land Rover had imported spare parts which included components from JWD after the company was put on the banned list.

“Automakers’ self-policing is clearly not doing the job.”

According to the report by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden’s staff, VW had voluntarily informed customs officials about the issue. In February, VW said thousands of its vehicles, including Porsches and Bentleys, had been held by authorities because they had components in them that breached America’s anti-forced labour laws.

“BMW continued to import products manufactured by JWD until at least April 2024 and appears to have stopped only after the committee repeatedly asked detailed questions about their relationship with JWD.”

Imported goods from China’s north-western Xinjiang region are believed to have been made by people from the Uyghur minority group in forced labour conditions.

China has been accused of detaining more than one million Uyghurs in Xinjiang against their will over the past few years. Authorities have denied all allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

“Automakers are sticking their heads in the sand and then swearing they can’t find any forced labour in their supply chains,” Wyden said.

Somehow, the Finance Committee’s oversight staff uncovered what multi-billion-dollar companies apparently could not: that BMW imported cars, Jaguar Land Rover imported parts, and VW AG manufactured cars that all included components made by a supplier banned for using Uyghur forced labor.

The report urged the US Customs and Border Protection agency to “supercharge enforcement and crack down on companies that fuel the shameful use of forced labour in China.”

[source:bbc]