President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that a new trade agreement has been reached with China, under which the United States will obtain magnets and crucial rare earth minerals. The tariffs levied on Chinese goods are set to increase to 55%.
As part of the agreement, Trump stated that the U.S. would fulfill its obligations, including allowing Chinese students to pursue their education in American colleges and universities. The details of the deal were announced on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform.
A report by Global Rights Compliance, an international rights organization based in the Netherlands, warns that several leading brands may be indirectly supporting forced labor in their Chinese supply chains, as their operations rely on minerals sourced from China’s Xinjiang region. Companies potentially implicated include Avon, Walmart, Nescafe, Coca-Cola, and paint supplier Sherwin-Williams.
The report identifies 77 Chinese suppliers in the titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium industries operating in Xinjiang. These suppliers, the report indicates, are at risk of participating in the Chinese government’s “labor transfer programs,” which allegedly force Uyghurs and other Turkic minority groups into factory work.
Products ranging from commercial paints and thermos cups to components for the aerospace, auto, and defense industries may trace their supply chains back to these minerals from Xinjiang. This raises important questions about corporate social responsibility and the integrity of global supply chains.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has denied these allegations of forced labor, characterizing them as fabrications by anti-China forces. The implicated companies have yet to comment on the report.
A U.N. report from 2022 suggested that China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, where over 1 million Uyghurs are estimated to have been arbitrarily detained. The Chinese government has refuted these claims, justifying its actions in Xinjiang as measures to combat terrorism and separatism.
In 2021, then-President Joe Biden signed a law to block imports from Xinjiang unless businesses could demonstrate that the products were not made using forced labor. Initially targeting solar products, tomatoes, cotton, and apparel, the law has recently been expanded to include new sectors such as aluminum and seafood.
Both sides of this issue present compelling arguments. As the world’s sources of critical minerals are increasingly concentrated in a few countries, notably China, the balance between economic interests and human rights concerns becomes more precarious.
