Slave labour: US blocks Chinese solar shipments 

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized more than 1,000 shipments of solar energy equipment under a new law banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about slave labor.

The CBP said the seizures were made between June 21, when the Uyghur Forced Labour Protection Act went into effect, and October 25, adding that none of the shipments have been released.

The agency would not reveal the manufacturers or confirm details about the quantity of solar equipment in the shipments, citing federal law that protects confidential trade secrets.

The level of seizures, which has not previously been reported, reflects how a policy intended to heap pressure on Beijing over its Uyghur detention camps in Xinjiang risks slowing the Biden administration’s efforts to decarbonize the U.S. power sector to fight climate change.

Sources say the detained products include panels and polysilicon cells likely amounting to up to 1 gigawatt of capacity and primarily made by three Chinese manufacturers – Longi Green Energy Technology Co Ltd, Trina Solar Co Ltd, and JinkoSolar Holding Co.

Combined, Longi, Trina and Jinko typically account for up to a third of U.S. panel supplies.

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Industry sources say the companies have halted new shipments to the United States over concerns additional cargoes will also be detained.

China denies abuses in Xinjiang. Beijing initially denied the existence of any detention camps, but later admitted it had set up “vocational training centers” necessary to curb what it said was terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism in Xinjiang.

Last month, Li Gao, head of the climate change office at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said some countries “fabricate reasons to suppress China’s photovoltaic enterprises…damaging the global collective effort to fight climate change”.

Solar installations in the United States slowed by 23% in the third quarter, and nearly 23 gigawatts of solar projects are delayed, largely due to an inability to obtain panels, according to the American Clean Power Association trade group.

The EU has also proposed a ban on products from Xinjiang but has not implemented one.

Zainab Sa’id