U.S. Bans Imports from China’s Ninestar Corp Over Uyghurs Human Rights Abuses!

[SalesServiceGuy]

WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced new actions to keep forced labor practices out of the U.S. supply chain. The interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), led by DHS, added two People’s Republic of China (PRC)-based companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. Effective June 12, 2023, goods produced by Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co., Ltd. and Ninestar Corporation and eight of its Zhuhai-based subsidiaries will be restricted from entering the United States as a result of the companies’ participation in business practices that target members of persecuted groups, including Uyghur minorities in the PRC.

BOMBSHELL: U.S. Bans Imports from China’s Ninestar Corp Over Uyghurs Human Rights Abuses! (Eight subsidiaries banned) | Tonernews

June 9 (Reuters) -The United States on Friday banned imports from China-based printer maker Ninestar Corp 002180.SZ and a chemical company over alleged human rights abuses in China, according to a post for the Federal Register. Ninestar, whose website says it is the world’s fourth-largest laser printer manufacturer, and Xingjang Zhongtai Chemical Co Ltd, are being kept out of the U.S. supply chain for participating in business practices that target China’s Uyghurs and other persecuted groups, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

The companies could not immediately be reached for comment.

U.N. experts and rights groups estimate that over a million people, mainly Uyghurs and Muslim minorities, have been detained in camps in China’s western Xinjiang region in recent years, with many saying they were subject to ideological training and abuse.

China has denied all accusations of abuse.

DHS said the actions were taken as part of the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA), which was signed into law in December 2021. The act prohibits imports into the U.S. that are either produced in Xinjiang or by companies identified on an UFLPA Entity List, unless the importer can prove the goods were not produced with forced labor. Twenty-two companies are now on the list, and DHS said it has examined over $1.3 billion worth of goods likely manufactured with forced labor nearly a year after the UFLPA was implemented.Ninestar and its eight Zhuhai-based subsidiaries, along with Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical, were added to the list for working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups, out of Xinjiang, according to the posting.“The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force will continue to hold companies accountable for perpetuating human rights violations in Xinjiang,” DHS Under Secretary for Policy Robert Silvers, who chairs the task force, said in a statement.

[SalesServiceGuy]

U.S. Puts Chinese Company With Kentucky Ties on Forced Labor Ban List - WSJ


The U.S. has blocked goods from printer maker Ninestar, majority owner of Lexington, Ky.-based Lexmark International, over forced labor concerns


The U.S. has blocked the import of goods made by Chinese laser printer maker Ninestar, majority owner of U.S.-based Lexmark International, over the company’s alleged use of forced labor tied to China’s Xinjiang region.

Goods from Ninestar (including Lexmark) and eight Zhuhai, China-based subsidiaries will be restricted from entering the U.S. as of Monday because of the “companies’ participation in business practices that target members of persecuted groups” including Uyghurs, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.


“The use of forced labor offends our values and undercuts American businesses and workers,” Homeland Security Undersecretary Robert Silvers said Friday. “Forced labor is now a top-tier compliance issue, and businesses must know their supply chains.”

A representative for Ninestar didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. has engaged in an enforcement push to try to eradicate forced labor-linked goods from company supply chains through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a law that came into force last year. The Ninestar ban, announced Friday, shows government willingness to target a global company with substantial U.S. ties.

]Ninestar, then called Apex Technology, in 2016 led a group of investors to buy Lexington, Ky.-based Lexmark International, a consumer printer brand that says it employs nearly 2,000 people in the U.S. Ninestar holds 62% of Lexmark but the company is managed stateside, according to a spokeswoman.

“Lexmark investors have no operational control of the company,” she said.

The Ninestar acquisition was reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a government body that reviews deals with potential national security implications, and Lexmark agreed to maintain an independent board consisting of U.S. citizens only, the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Lexmark sources printers from Ninestar.

“Lexmark is committed to upholding the highest standards of human rights and fair labor practices,” she said. “We do not anticipate business disruption resulting from the order.”

Ninestar, which reported $3.63 billion in 2022 revenue, was added to an “entity list” maintained under the UFLPA that lists companies whose goods are presumed to be made with forced labor. Nearly two dozen companies are currently on that list. Ninestar was added to a section for companies that worked with Xinjiang’s government to “recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor,” according to a public notice.

The U.S. government’s move against Ninestar “shows that the U.S. understands that this affectsU.S. business, but it’s going to enforce the law,” said Laura Murphy, a professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K. who researches forced labor.

Ninestar on its website says it is the fourth-largest laser printer maker in the world and has business in more than 150 countries. Also added to the UFLPA Entity List on Friday was Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical, an Urumqi, China-based chemical company. A representative for that company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a special bipartisan government committee that focuses on China, called the actions Friday “a step in the right direction” but said forced labor-linked goods continue to enter the U.S. market. The committee has pushed for strong enforcement of the UFLA “American consumers should not be unwittingly subsidizing the PRC’s genocide,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), who serve as chairs of the committee.

[SalesServiceGuy]

... one thing is for sure, this ban will not go away quickly. What is going to happen with parts, consummables and gov't contracts remain to be seen.

Obviously, Lexmark and it's distribution channels have some US inventory that will keep customers supplied for a limited time.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Lexmark relabels product for Toshiba, Sharp and Xerox.

One has to wonder how this import ban will effect these OEMs and if these OEMs will want to risk reputational harm by being associated with a supplier accused of human rights abuses and forced labour.

There were talks for Lexmark to manufacture product for Konica Minolta using Fuji A3 print engines.

[SalesServiceGuy]

... this is going to be a golden opportunity for other OEMs to solicit and convert Lexmark's USA customers and dealers.

[blackcat4866]

I would expect that selling and maintaining Lexmark products will become increasingly difficult as consumables run out. It's a shame really, since Lexmark tabletop units are consistently more reliable than the other choices. I certainly understand banning the products, though, if these forced labor practices are occurring.

Thanks for sharing the information.
=^..^=

[SalesServiceGuy]

... most Lexmark product sold in Canada and Mexico is first shipped into the USA and then transported by container to it's final destination. A ban on US Lexmarks imports significantly degrades the supply of Lexmark OEM product into these countries as well.

... relabelled Lexmark product from Sharp, Toshiba and Xerox will likely pass through the ports normally.

... and then there is current strike of West Coast port workers which is beginning to back up ships and containers at the ports of LA and Long Beach. At the Port of Vancouver, the 7,000 workers there belong to the same Union as LA and Long Beach and are sypmathetic to going on strike as well.

... during the height of COVID, the supply chain avoided west cost port congestion and shipped product via the Panama Canal to US ports in the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast. The Panama Canal, due to climate change, is experiencing unusually low water levels which places new restrictions on the size of ship and the number of containers loaded there on. This ultimately increases costs which have to be passed onto the consumer.

[SalesServiceGuy]

... any container ships containing Lexmark product bound for the USA are not going to stop or alter their route. Likely the Lexmark containers will be off loaded at their designated port of call. The containers will be impounded and held in a secure area and charged a daily fee of usually $100.00 per day until Lexmark can arrage to have them picked up and removed from the USA.

[capitalchoice]

definitely there is going to be a shark increase in consumables costs for those brands...

[SalesServiceGuy]

definitely there is going to be a shark increase in consumables costs for those brands...

... availability is going to be a bigger factor than price. I am sure there must be a few 3rd party toner manufacturers that will try to fill the demand. Lexmark maybe forced to partner with somebody to domestically manufacture their consummables for them.

Somebody like Toshiba which has a toner manufacturing facility in South Dakota ... but even so, you cannot just snap your fingers and make that happen. It would take months.