The accusation of forced labor in China is now also causing problems for VW in the USA: several thousand new cars are stuck in ports there because parts from the Xinjiang region were installed in them.
Thousands of cars from VW’s luxury brands Audi, Porsche and Bentley are stuck in US ports because of a component from western China. “We are working to resolve a customs-related delay in the delivery of certain Volkswagen Group vehicle models from US ports to dealers,” said a company spokesman. The component in question will now be replaced in the vehicles.
USA bans imports of products from Uyghur region
According to “Handelsblatt”, around 13,000 new cars are affected. “The delivery of the vehicles is continuing, but unfortunately there may be delays,” the spokesman continued. “The reason is a small electronic component of a larger control unit, which will be replaced in the affected vehicles as soon as the required parts are available.”
According to the Financial Times (“FT”), the component in question comes from western China and therefore violates a US law against forced labor. The U.S. does not allow imports of products manufactured in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region and other areas of China where human rights violations may occur.
According to the “FT”, the component was installed by a supplier. Volkswagen first found out about this through a tip from him and then informed the US authorities themselves. “We are clarifying the matter and taking appropriate measures,” explained the VW spokesman. “This may include terminating the supplier relationship if our investigations confirm serious violations.”
Volkswagen wants to examine future orientation in Xinjiang
Volkswagen has long been criticized for its activities in western China. In Xinjiang, the group operates a delivery factory and a test track together with its Chinese partner SAIC. Just yesterday, Volkswagen announced that it would talk to SAIC “about the future direction of business activities in the Xinjiang province.” “Various scenarios are currently being intensively examined.”
Uighurs, members of other minorities and human rights organizations have been reporting for years that hundreds of thousands of people in Xinjiang are being put into re-education camps against their will, in some cases tortured and forced into forced labor. The Chinese government denies these allegations.
That’s why she reacted angrily to Volkswagen’s possible withdrawal from the northwestern province. When asked by the AFP news agency, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said that German companies should not be “deceived by the lies” about the situation in Xinjiang. They would have to distinguish “the truth from the lie.”