The statement from Biden comes a day after a US law banning imports from China’s Xinjiang province took effect, a move aimed at addressing Beijing’s use of forced labour among the Uyghur minority….reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden said he is planning to talk with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as he is considering easing some tariffs imposed on Beijing in a bid to ease US inflation, media reported.
“I plan on having a conversation with President Xi. We haven’t set a time yet,” Biden told reporters. Over the weekend, Biden said a call could be “soon.”
The statement from Biden comes a day after a US law banning imports from China’s Xinjiang province took effect, a move aimed at addressing Beijing’s use of forced labour among the Uyghur minority.
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The Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) gives US authorities increased powers to block the import of goods linked to forced labour in China.
President Biden signed the Act into law on December 23, 2021, after it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the United States Congress.
Since 2017, Chinese authorities have committed crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang region, detaining as many as one million people and subjecting detainees and others to forced labour inside and outside Xinjiang. The new law creates a presumption that goods made in whole or in part in Xinjiang, or produced by entities in China linked to forced labour, are not eligible to be imported into the United States.
Meanwhile, a Chinese official said that the US ban on all imports from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is a typical example of economic coercion.
The move will seriously damage the interests of Chinese and US consumers and enterprises and will do no good for the stabilization of global industrial and supply chains, global inflation easing, or the promotion of global economic recovery, a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
In firm opposition to the ban, the Chinese spokesperson said the United States is practicing unilateralism, protectionism and bullying in the name of “human rights,” which seriously undermines market principles and violates the rules of the World Trade Organization. (with inputs from ANI)
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