Vietnam Overtakes China as Largest Exporter of Goods Made with Uyghur Forced Labor

its products. East Turkistan is the Uyghur name for the area China calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

“Vietnam is one of these countries that China abuses to cover for its crimes,” Abbas added.

U.S. Customs officials did not respond to questions from VOA Vietnamese about how they selected incoming shipments for analysis.

CBP Assistant Port Director Ed Fox told the CNBC cable news network, “It’s a combination of intelligence, information that’s gathered from a variety of sources, all feeding into our expert cargo targeting systems.”

For clothing that includes cotton, one of Vietnam’s largest exports, U.S. officials use isotopic testing, which can link cotton to specific geographic origins, experts say.

The process is not yet a routine process for U.S. Customs, Eric Choy, the agency’s executive director for trade remedy and law enforcement, told Reuters in June. He added that officials at individual U.S. ports can request testing if they receive allegations about specific shipments or suspect the goods have links to Xinjiang.

According to Statista, Vietnam was among the five biggest buyers of imported cotton in the world in 2022. China is the biggest cotton exporter, according to OEC World.

A federal report published in 2023 estimated that cotton from Xinjiang accounted for roughly 87% of China’s production and 23% of the global supply in 2020 and 2021.

Vu Duc Khanh, a part-time law teacher at the University of Ottawa, Canada, who follows Vietnamese politics and international relations, told VOA Vietnamese, “In the case of the garment industry, I think Vietnam is simply buying raw materials, or even machinery, from China, and then adding cheap Vietnamese labor to export to the U.S. market.”

Nguyen Quang A, an economist in Hanoi who often disagrees with official policy, told VOA Vietnamese in a telephone interview, “I don’t think it is a conspiracy by China to avoid the U.S. regulations. Vietnamese businesses have imported the raw materials from China simply because of low prices.”

Nguyen said the Ministry of Trade and Industry should give full guidance to businesses on the UFLPA when doing business with the U.S., adding that Vietnamese firms will need to wean themselves off raw materials produced in China’s Xinjiang region to ensure long-term access to the U.S. market.

“I think it is time for Vietnamese small- and medium-sized textile enterprises to diversify the supply chain, especially using more cotton imports from the U.S., Australia, India, and engage as soon as possible in dialogue with U.S. authorities,” Vu told VOA Vietnamese.

He continued, “Vietnam can do this now because the two countries have just upgraded to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level of their diplomatic relationship.”

An Hai is a VOA News reporter. This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA).