4 minBusiness
Trump administration blocks BGI Group shipments over alleged Xinjiang forced labor ties
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will bar goods from BGI Group and its affiliates, citing alleged links to forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. Beijing rejected the accusations and vowed to take countermeasures.
The Trump administration said Wednesday it is blocking shipments from the Chinese biotech company BGI Group and its affiliates, alleging ties to forced labor in China's far-western region of Xinjiang. Starting Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will bar goods from BGI Group, a major company known for its genetic sequencing technologies, as well as BGI Genomics and MGI Tech.
The Department of Homeland Security said the companies either source materials from Xinjiang or work with the regional government to « recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor » of members of persecuted ethnic groups there, including Uyghurs. Adding the companies to a trade blacklist comes as biotechnology emerges as another front in the economic and technology competition between Washington and Beijing. Last week the Treasury Department also proposed new restrictions on U.S. investments in biotechnology, artificial intelligence and supercomputing flowing into countries such as China.
China rejected any accusation of forced labor and called the ban an act of « political manipulation » and « bullying under the guise of protecting human rights ». In a Thursday morning statement, the Ministry of Commerce said the listings « run counter to the consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state, seriously undermine the stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations, and violate the spirit of humanitarianism ». Beijing added that it « will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its interests ».
The latest trade action comes ahead of an expected meeting next month between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese city where BGI Group is based. Xi could then travel to Florida in December for the Group of 20 leaders summit and meet Trump for the fourth time this year, as the two sides try to keep ties stable during a trade truce.
BGI Group rejected the allegations in a statement Wednesday, saying it « has not engaged in any form of forced labor » and that it « firmly opposes all forms of forced labor ». DHS said the company holds controlling stakes in BGI Genomics and MGI Tech. It pointed to « credible information, including corporate and government reporting » showing that the three companies have supported genetic testing in Xinjiang.
The company has for several years been a concern to U.S. lawmakers and policymakers, who worry that its alleged ties to the Chinese government and access to large volumes of genetic data could harm national security and commercial interests. BGI has long stressed its private ownership and said it does not serve patients in the United States and has no access to Americans' genetic data. Congress failed to pass legislation banning BGI from doing business with federally funded medical providers, but at the end of last year it passed a similar provision without naming specific companies, calling for a list of « biotechnology companies of concern ». The Pentagon has also labeled BGI Group, BGI Genomics and MGI Tech as Chinese military companies, a designation that carries reputational damage.
The new restrictions fall under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which then-President Joe Biden signed into law at the end of 2021 following allegations of human rights abuses by Beijing against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Beijing has refuted those claims and defends its policy in Xinjiang as counterterrorism and stability work. In August, the Trump administration sharply expanded the blacklist under that law to include 43 Chinese companies, bringing the total to 187 entities. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has vowed to protect American workers from being undercut by foreign companies using « slave labor ».
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