Hennes & Mauritz AB says that the Swedish retailer does not work with any garment manufacturing factories in Chinese Xinjiang region. Receiving Beijing’s suspected persecution of the Uighur Muslims, the Trump administration recently banned imports from three Xinjiang firms. It will also apply curbs to six additional firms and target local cotton. H&M has reported that no goods from the area are currently being procured and has taken steps to make sure that providers in China do not work for Xinjiang through transfer programs where forced labor constitutes a possibility.
The Swedish firm had previously purchased cotton from Xinjiang farms connected with the Better Cotton Project, a sustainability program. However, this software has now agreed to suspend cotton licenses in the region Furthermore, H&M examines its “indirect partnership” with a unit belonging to Huafu Fashion Co. But H&M did not deal with operations in Xinjiang by the Chinese firm, Isaksson says.
