WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States has banned goods from two China-based companies as part of an effort to eliminate forced labor practices in the U.S. supply chain, prompting a warning from Beijing of measures to safeguard Chinese firms' rights.
The action targets Camel Group Co. Ltd., a battery manufacturer, and Chenguang Biotech Group Co. Ltd., a spice and extract manufacturer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)said in a statement on Tuesday. The ban, it said, would be effective Wednesday.
The move aims to promote accountability for "the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity" against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the department said.
"We will continue to work with all of our partners to keep goods made with forced labor from Xinjiang out of U.S. commerce while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in the statement.
Twenty four entities have been added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, DHS said.
"The so-called 'forced labor' in Xinjiang is a century-old lie concocted by anti-China forces to smear China," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
China strongly condemns the ban and will take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of its companies, the ministry said, without giving details.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Rami Ayyub, Doina Chiacu and Conor Humphries)
