Global Car Supply Chains’ Ties to Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang

Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang region, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

The global auto industry continues to remain intricately tied to supply chains in China’s Xinjiang region, thereby becoming part of its human rights abuses, according to a new report.

The report, published in December by the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at the Sheffield Hallam University, identified 96 mining, processing, or manufacturing firms related to the automotive sector in the Xinjiang region. More than 40 Chinese manufacturers in the auto sector source from Xinjiang or from firms that have received Uyghur labor transfers. When it came to international automotive parts of car manufacturers, this number was at 50.

More than 100 international firms have some exposure to goods made from forced Uyghur labor. “Several major international auto manufacturers—including Volkswagen Audi Group, Honda, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz Group, Toyota, Tesla, Renault, NIO, and Stellantis Group—had several supply chain exposures to the Uyghur region,” the report states.

China-based Baowu, the largest steel supplier in the world, is the biggest steel producer in the Uyghur region. Xinjiang produces around 6.6 million tons of aluminum per year, accounting for a tenth of the global supply.

The region is also home to some of the largest copper processors in the world like the Zijin Mining Group and the Xinjiang Non-ferrous Metals Company. A significant amount of China’s processing of lithium—critical in electric vehicle batteries—is done in Xinjiang.

Since 2017, Beijing has allowed five lead-acid battery manufacturers to smelt lead and produce batteries in the region. The Camel Group, the largest among them, has earlier been subject to sanctions due to “frequent blood lead incidents.”

All the industries and other sectors like electronics that are located in Xinjiang have seen Uyghur workers being mistreated, claimed the report. There are instances of people working in hazardous conditions, kept in substandard housing, given collective punishment, and separated from their families. Many of these facilities run on transferred Uyghur workers.

Recommendations, US Action

The report recommended governments to enact mandatory human rights diligence laws that will require companies to address the risk of violations beyond first-tier suppliers.

Any imports linked to forced labor must be banned, the report stated. In addition, governments must ensure that all procurement of automobiles for official use must not contain parts from Xinxiang, it added.

As for companies, the report asked car firms to work individually and collectively to investigate their own supply chains linked to Xinjiang.

In June, the United States banned the import of goods from Xinjiang with the enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

“We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labor, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labor,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement at that time.

China is one of the largest auto parts suppliers in the world, exporting more than $45 billion worth of products in 2021. The United States received a quarter of these exports last year worth around $11.5 billion.