US Bans All Imports of Chinese Sports Brand Li-Ning Over Use of North Korean Labor
Founded by former Olympic gymnast Li Ning, Li-Ning Sporting Goods is a dominant sportswear and sports equipment company in China. Yet after probing its supply chain, the U.S. customs agency announced March 15 that would be detaining its products at all U.S. ports of entry over its use of North Korean labor, a violation of U.S. sanctions. The order was effective from March 14.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) prohibits the entry of goods, wares, and articles mined—deemed as forced-labor products—made wholly or in part by North Korean citizens, including those working aboard, according to a Tuesday press release.
“Such merchandise will not be entitled to entry unless the importer provides clear and convincing evidence that their merchandise was not produced with convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor under penal sanctions within 30 days of notice of detention,” the statement reads.
Otherwise, the detained products can be subject to seizure and forfeiture, the CBP said.
The move was made to “uphold the fundamental value of human dignity” and to ensure all imported goods to the United States are free from forced labor, said CBP Office of Trade Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith.
Li-Ning did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Chinese company has previously attracted attention for supporting the use of cotton from the far west Xinjiang region, where Beijing has engaged in an expansive campaign of repression against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Cotton from the region is likely tainted with Uyghur forced labor, researchers say. Li-Ning has listed its use of Xinjiang cotton on clothing tags for some time.
The sportswear brand has also partnered with retired NBA player Dwyane Wade’s sneaker brand “Way of Wade” since 2012, a deal bringing Wade at least $100 million.
Late last year, President Joe Biden signed into law legislation that all bans imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns of forced labor.
Back in November 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department also blacklisted a Russian company and a North Korean company operating in Russia, which it accused of being involved in exporting forced labor from North Korea.
A 2017 U.N. Security Council resolution demanded that countries repatriate all North Korean workers by Dec. 22, 2021, to stop them from earning foreign currency for North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The United States has estimated Pyongyang was earning more than $500 million a year from nearly 100,000 workers abroad, of which some 50,000 were in China and 30,000 in Russia.
