News Desk
NEW YORK – Traces of banned Chinese cotton were detected in a significant 19% of a diverse array of merchandise peddled by both U.S. and global retailers over the past year. A recent study unveiled by natural resource analytics, isotope testing firm Stratum Reservoir, and DNA lab Applied DNA Sciences has exposed a disconcerting reality.
This revelation underscores the formidable hurdles in adhering to U.S. legislation aimed at curtailing the importation of cotton associated with coerced labor practices in China. Employing sophisticated isotopic testing methodologies, the researchers scrutinized garment samples, cotton swabs, and footwear procured from major big box retailers and e-commerce platforms. Their forensic analysis, while not divulging the identities of the specific retailers involved, wielded a precision capable of pinpointing the geographic origin of cotton through the concentration of stable elements like carbon and hydrogen, crucially focusing on Xinjiang, the contentious western region of China.
The U.S. implemented legislation in 2021 as a bulwark against products potentially entwined with human rights violations in Xinjiang, where the U.S. government alleges egregious mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims amounting to genocide.
China, in rebuttal, steadfastly refutes these allegations, even as Xinjiang, a vital cotton-producing hub, continues to serve as a principal source for global materials, including those indispensable for solar panel manufacturing.
The significance of this study cannot be overstated. Despite concerted efforts by legislators and trade advocates to sanitize the U.S. supply chain of forced labor-tainted goods, the efficacy of the new legislation appears tenuous at best.
Compounding the challenge, a federal report from 2022 outlined Xinjiang’s dominance, with its cotton comprising a staggering 87% of China’s output and 23% of the global supply in recent years. Notably, major garment-producing nations like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh import substantial volumes of finished fabric from China, a considerable portion of which ultimately finds its way into the U.S. as apparel crafted by suppliers in these regions.
Parsing through the data underscores the severity of the issue. Among the 822 products subjected to scrutiny, nearly one-fifth exhibited traces of Xinjiang cotton. Alarmingly, more than half of these items bore labels purporting an exclusive U.S. origin. Moreover, two-thirds of the Xinjiang-positive products revealed a blending of cotton with materials sourced from regions beyond Xinjiang.
Despite the gravity of these findings, Applied DNA Sciences, one of the two firms involved in the study, abstained from disclosing specific brands and retailers scrutinized. The firm clarified its procurement strategy, which involved acquiring goods both domestically within the U.S. and from international e-commerce platforms catering to American consumers.
