Ricketts, Colleagues Call for Plan to Address Communist China’s Forced Labor Transfers of Uyghurs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and three other senators sent a bipartisan letter to the Chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) Christopher Pratt. The letter calls for the FLETF to take action to prevent Communist China’s circumvention of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFPLA) through forced labor transfers. The letter comes in response to a joint investigation, led by the New York Times, that found that the Communist Chinese government is forcing thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities to work in factories outside Xinjiang. Communist China’s deplorable actions have complicated enforcement of the UFPLA. These actions enable Communist China to skirt accountability for its human rights abuses, artificially lower the cost of producing goods, and undermine American workers.
“On May 29, 2025, the New York Times, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and Der Spiegel published a joint investigation detailing efforts by Communist China to ship tens of thousands of Uyghur workers out of the Xinjiang province—and into factories across China,” said Ricketts. “It is clear based off of the joint investigation referenced above that further measures are needed to drastically expand the UFPLA Entity List to address these forced labor transfer programs outside Xinjiang and crack down on Communist China’s evasion of U.S. law.”
In addition to Ricketts, other signatories include Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Curtis (R-UT), and Chris Coons (D-DE). All are members of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Read the full letter here or below:
Dear Under Secretary Pratt,
We write to raise concerns regarding increased efforts by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to utilize State-directed labor transfer programs to circumvent the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFPLA).
Since the implementation of the UFPLA’s enforcement mechanism in June 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reviewed over 11,000 shipments covering billions of dollars of various products, including apparel, automotive parts, chemicals, electronics, flooring, and solar panels. These actions have incentivized companies to increase their supply chain due diligence and shift their supply chains away from suppliers that exploit Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China, particularly in Xinjiang. As a result of this enforcement, however, the PRC is now actively working to sidestep our forced labor prohibitions.
On May 29, 2025, the New York Times, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Der Spiegel published a joint investigation detailing efforts by the PRC to ship tens of thousands of Uyghur workers out of Xinjiang and into factories across China. Over 100 companies in at least five major industries appeared to receive Uyghur workers or parts or goods produced by them. According to a February International Labor Organization report, these labor transfer programs used measures “severely restricting the free choice of employment.”
The UFPLA requires the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) to produce and update an entity list, including “a list of entities working with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.” CBP is required to enforce the prohibition of imported goods from entities on the UFPLA Entity List. Currently, the entity list contains 144 entities, with 37 added just in January. However, it is clear based off of the joint investigation referenced above that further measures are needed to drastically expand the UFPLA Entity List to address these forced labor transfer programs outside Xinjiang and crack down on the PRC’s evasion of U.S. law.
We therefore request a briefing by July 18, 2025, on the actions FLETF intends to take to prevent the PRC’s circumvention of the UFPLA through forced labor transfers and the FLETF’s plan for engagement with the private sector to improve compliance with the UFPLA. We stand ready to work with FLETF to ensure it has both the resources and authorities necessary to tackle these grotesque human rights abuses that the PRC uses to artificially lower the costs of goods and undermine American workers.