US legislators looking into solar supply chain's connections to Xinjiang

• 2 United States legislators are asking the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to provide information on the level to which the country's solar supply chain currently relies on polysilicon and also solar products made in China's Xinjiang area.

They additionally want to know what measures have actually been taken to address this.

Senators Marco Rubio and Jeff Merkley, who are co-authors of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, sent a letter to SEIA's president Abigail Hopper on Tuesday "to ask about the integrity of the United States photovoltaic panel supply chain" when it involves compelled labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.

The letter summarises info originating from various sources, including leaked government records, that makes it clear there are large-scale internment centers in the area, where more than a million Uyghurs and people of other Turkic or Muslim minorities are being held as well as forced to work. The BBC has also reported that the Chinese federal government is complying with a programme to transfer numerous thousands of people from ethnic minorities to factories and also other worksites, thus dividing them from their households.

"This transfer program is targeted at thinning out these culturally, ethnically, and consistently distinct communities, and like the internment camps, it includes coercive measures to require Uyghurs and also various other Turkic or Muslim minorities to pledge commitment to the Chinese Communist Party and also renounce their religion, society, and language as well as welcome atheism and also the Chinese language as well as culture instead," the letter checks out.

Along with solar products, it is thought that cotton, tomatoes and associated products, in addition to particular garments, hair items, apparel, computer system components and also various other products are made with forced or prison work from the region concerned. US Customs as well as Border Protection has until now provided 11 Withhold Release Orders on such products being imported from Xinjiang.

It is estimated that 50% of the world's polysilicon production is now sourced from the particular area, including from plants operated by residential producers Daqo New Energy Corp (NYSE: DQ), Xinte Energy Co Ltd (HKG:1799), Xinjiang East Hope New Energy Co Ltd and GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd (HKG:3800). The letter explains that SEIA participants JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (NYSE: JKS), JA Solar Technology Co Ltd (SHE:002459) and also LONGi Solar have actually all publicly shown that they source polysilicon from Xinjiang.

Currently, Rubio and Merkley are inspecting whether the solar energy lobbying team has actually recommended its participants to leave out items made in China in the production of solar panels being sold in the US, and also what actions have been required to get rid of forced labour in the supply chain.