The results of a preliminary investigation by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) accuse US fashion giant PVH of inappropriate behavior in China’s Xinjiang region.
The parent company of brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein is among a number of US companies accused of “inappropriate behavior” in the region, which is primarily known for its cotton production. A spokesman for the ministry told several media outlets that the investigation against PVH under the unreliable companies list mechanism was proceeding legally and that the ministry planned to meet with the retail group in the future before announcing the results of the investigation to the public .
The investigation was originally launched in September when China said PVH was suspected of boycotting cotton from Xinjiang “without any factual basis,” Reuters reported at the time. The company was asked to provide documents and evidence showing what “discriminatory actions” it has taken in relation to products from Xinjiang over the past three years. In recent years, China has come under fire over allegations of forced labor in the cotton-growing region and has itself been the subject of investigations, particularly by the United Nations.
In mid-2022, the UN released a report saying it had found evidence of “serious human rights violations” in Xinjiang. Further research claimed that around 1.6 million Uyghur Muslims are being held in internment camps and forced to perform forced labor. China has always denied these claims.
Analysts suspect that China’s current investigations into PVH and other US companies are part of retaliation against increasingly strict US import restrictions on products allegedly from Xinjiang. Tensions have escalated in recent months, including in the run-up to Donald Trump’s return to the presidency. Part of Trump’s campaign focused on significantly increasing tariffs on imported goods from China – a task he plans to tackle immediately after taking office in the White House.
This article previously appeared on Fashionunited.fr and was created using digital tools translated.
FashionUnited uses an AI-based language tool to speed up the translation of articles and improve the end result. They help us to make FashionUnited’s international reporting quickly and comprehensively accessible to a German-speaking readership. Articles translated using AI-based tools are proofread and carefully edited by our editors before they are published. If you have any questions or comments, please email [email protected]