U.S. seizes $800k worth of Chinese product made with human hair

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers detained a shipment of almost 13 tons of wigs and other human hair products suspected of being made through forced labor in Xinjiang, China, U.S. government officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Importing products made with forced labor into the U.S. is illegal. But it's extremely difficult to trace U.S. supply chains back to factories in Xinjiang that use forced labor, making this a rare event.

What's happening: On June 17, CBP issued a withhold release order for Lop County Meixin Hair Product Co. Ltd. in southern Xinjiang requiring U.S. ports of entry to detain any shipments from that company to the U.S.

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CBP officials at the Port of New York/Newark subsequently detained the shipment of Meixin Hair Product goods, which included wigs and other human hair products.

A withhold release order indicates CBP has uncovered strong evidence linking those products to forced labor.

Once their goods are seized, the importing company is given the opportunity to provide proof that the products are not made with forced labor.

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“If this highly suspicious, 13-ton shipment of human hair indeed turns out to be linked to the Uighur concentration camps, then this is a new low — even for the Chinese Communist Party — and they will have to answer to the world community for their actions,” National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot tells Axios.

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Background: The Chinese government has instituted forced labor on a mass scale as part of its campaign to subjugate and forcibly assimilate Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

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More than a million Uighurs have been detained in a string of concentration camps in Xinjiang.

Some former detainees are sent to work in factories, where they are under tight surveillance and may be forced to attend indoctrination sessions.

Numerous female survivors have said women's heads were shaved when they were admitted to the camps.

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