in june a us law took effect banning the import of forcedlabor goods from xinjiang in a pushback against beijings treatment of chinas uyghur muslim minority which washington has labeled genocideby david shepardsonthe us senate finance committee has asked eight major automakers including general motors tesla and ford motor to disclose whether any of their components are linked to alleged forced labor use in china according to letters made public on thursday in june a us law took effect banning the import of forcedlabor goods from xinjiang in a pushback against beijings treatment of chinas uyghur muslim minority which washington has labeled genocide advt senate finance committee chair ron wyden wrote the chief executives of major automakers inquiring about chinese supply chain issues saying it is vital that automakers scrutinize their relationships with all suppliers linked to xinjiang beijing denies abuses in xinjiang but says it had established vocational training centers to curb terrorism separatism and religious radicalism the letters which were also sent to toyota motor volkswagen chryslerparent stellantis and mercedesbenz said unless due diligence confirms that components are not linked to forced labor automakers cannot and should not sell cars in the united states that include components mined or produced in xinjiang wyden wants to know whether the automakers have ever canceled or curtailed use of any supplier because of its use of raw materials mining processing or parts manufacturing linked to xinjiang he cited a new report released earlier this month by researchers at britains sheffield hallam university on the auto industrys use of steel aluminum copper batteries electronics and other components produced in xinjiang between raw materials miningprocessing and auto parts manufacturing we found that practically every part of the car would require heightened scrutiny to ensure that it was free of uyghur forced labor the report said advt gm said thursday it actively monitors its global supply chain and that its supplier contracts forbid the use of any forced or involuntary labor abusive treatment of employees or corrupt business practices in the supplying of goods and services to gm honda said it expects suppliers to follow its global sustainability guidelines with respect to labor stellantis said building strong responsible supply chains is an important focus for us and monitors suppliers compliance with its code of conduct through contractual commitments and ongoing evaluations volkswagen said it would respond to the senate letter and emphasized it takes corporate responsibility seriously and rejects forced labor and all forms of modern slavery including human trafficking the other automakers either did not comment or did not immediately comment the united auto workers uaw union this month called on automakers to shift their entire supply chain out of chinas xinjiang region saying the time is now for the auto industry to establish highroad supply chain models outside the uyghur region that protect labor and human rights and the environment also read magna to buy veoneer active safety for 153 bn to bolster selfdriving techmagna electronics which develops technologies for automated driving