In a new statement, Texas Representative Beth Van Duyne (R) asked U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (D) to review the Chinese online retail company Temu.
“In light of the Wall Street Journal’s March 26, 2024 article titled “More Chinese Companies to be Added to U.S. Import Ban List”, we wanted to ensure that one specific company, Temu, a subsidiary of Chinese-controlled PDD Holdings Inc, is at the top of your list to review,” reads the statement.
“Given the number of letters over the last 12 months highlighting congressional concerns about the operations of nefarious online marketplace Temu, we want to ensure that your department and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection are actively enforcing P.L. 117-78, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and aggressively evaluating Temu and its parent company, PDD Holding Inc, for inclusion on the UFLPA Entity List,” said Rep. Van Duyne.
According to recent news reports, Temu is said to have listed items for sale made in Xinjiang, China. Xinjiang has been caught and accused of forcing Uyghur Muslims to make products for nothing or little to no pay.
“Beyond these news reports, PDD and Temu admitted to Congress they lack the necessary trade compliance program that would prevent them from selling and shipping products with a nexus to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) into the United States,” said Rep. Van Duyne.
“In fact, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party issued its interim findings which show Temu admitted that it does not expressly prohibit third party sellers from selling products based on their origin in XUAR,” said the congresswoman.
Rep. Van Duyne continued, “It is worth noting that the annual public filling from Temu’s parent company, PDD, echoed this blatant disregard for the human atrocities occurring in the XUAR, even though PDD is a publicly traded company in the U.S.”
“In fact, PDD stock rose around 30 percent last year, catapulting the company’s founder, Colin Huang, to the third richest person in China according to Forbes Magazine. PDD admitted in its 2019 Form 20-F, as required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, that it actively worked with an agricultural co-op specifically from the XUAR,” said the Texas representative.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has continuously found that Temu has violated rules set by the U.S. for entering the country’s market. Rep. Van Duyne listed the company’s practices as a “blatant disregard” for the UFLPA’s rule of law.
“The time has come to revoke their privileges to import products into the U.S. to prevent goods made from forced labor from crossing over our borders,” concluded Rep. Van Duyne.
