Congressional Executive Commission on China Leaders Ask for Details of Cotton WRO
The co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and two prominent Republicans also on the commission asked the acting CBP commissioner if the agency has stopped imports under the Xinjiang cotton withhold release order from companies that have advertised that they use Xinjiang cotton. Their letter listed 38 companies, mostly Chinese brands, but also Hugo Boss, Asics and FILA. The letter had a footnote that said Hugo Boss said that a comment on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter supporting Xinjiang cotton was not authorized and was pulled down.
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The Oct. 20 letter asked for detailed information about the enforcement of the WRO on cotton. "As a new National Basketball Association (NBA) season begins this week, we are very concerned about the sportswear companies Anta, Peak, and Li-Ning, which have high-profile endorsements from NBA players," wrote Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. "We remain committed to assisting CBP in enforcing these measures consistently and aggressively, including through expanded use of forensic country-of-origin testing and other means, and hope to work with you to ensure CBP has the resources it needs to protect American markets and supply chains from being tainted by the products of forced labor."
A CBP spokesman said, "Congress often asks CBP leadership and management to testify about the agency’s operations and activities related to border security, trade, and travel. We defer our comment when our leadership provides our official answer to Congress."