(Reuters) – Chinese battery makers CATL and Gotion High Tech should be immediately added to the U.S. import ban list, a group of Republican lawmakers said, alleging forced labor in their supply chains, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Lawmakers called for companies CATL and Gotion, which are linked to Ford (NYSE:) and Volkswagen (ETR:), respectively, to be added to the so-called entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a report said Thursday. .
The entity list restricts the import of goods related to what the US government has described as the ongoing genocide of minorities in China’s Xinjiang region. Beijing denies any abuses.
Any claims that Gotion “uses or is associated with forced labor are baseless and completely false,” the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding that the selection of partners is based on “strict screening mechanisms and evaluation criteria.”
Volkswagen Group China has no evidence of human rights violations related to its business activities in China, a company spokesman told Reuters in an emailed statement on Friday.
Volkswagen will also immediately investigate the allegations, “as we have done in the past,” the spokesman added.
Volkswagen China Investment Co owns a 26% stake in Gotion, and the latter is not nominated for any U.S. projects or import business into the country, a Volkswagen spokesman said.
In a statement, CATL said the allegations against her are “baseless and completely false” and that it is in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Business relationships with some of the suppliers mentioned, he said, “have ceased a long time ago.”
Ford did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.