(Reuters) – Chinese battery companies CATL and Gotion High Tech should be added immediately to an import ban list, a group of Republican lawmakers said, alleging their supply chains use forced labor, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The lawmakers called for CATL and Gotion, which have ties to Ford and Volkswagen, to be added to what is known as the entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the report said.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, Gotion said any allegation the company “uses or is related to forced labor is baseless and absolutely false,”, adding the selection of partners is based on “strict review mechanisms and evaluation criteria.”
The list restricts the import of goods tied to what the U.S. government has characterised as an ongoing genocide of minorities in China’s Xinjiang region.
Ford, Volkswagen and CATL did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi and Casey Hall; Editing by Michael Perry and Lincoln Feast)
Comments