Dhe dispute between the United States and China over allegations of forced labor in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang is becoming an ever-increasing burden on Europe's auto industry. As the Volkswagen Group confirmed upon request, several thousand cars from various group brands are stuck in US ports. After a subcontractor reported to the Wolfsburg-based company that he had ended up on a US sanctions list due to possible connections in his supply chain to western China, the authorities there stopped the deliveries.
Volkswagen said on Thursday morning that it was working to resolve “a customs-related delay in the delivery of certain Volkswagen Group vehicle models” to US dealers. According to company circles, it is a small electronic component that costs around 90 cents to purchase and can be replaced with little work. Installation has already begun and cars are being delivered gradually.
As the British “Financial Times” reported, it is about premium vehicles from the Audi, Porsche and Bentley brands. In total, more than 10,000 cars are said to be affected. It is said that the VW Group had no knowledge of the origin of the component until the supplier made the Wolfsburg-based company aware of the problem. The module comes from western China and conflicts with the American Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Forced labor is an exclusion for the US market
The US passed the law two years ago to ensure that no products linked to forced labor in China's Xinjiang Uighur region and other areas of China reach the American market. In the EU, the European Parliament and Council of Ministers are currently negotiating similar regulations. An agreement should be reached at the beginning of March. For products from high-risk regions such as Xinjiang, where there is state-organized forced labor, companies are supposed to prove that they have not benefited from them in a reversal of the burden of proof. Only then are they allowed to import their products.
Regarding the current delays in the ports, Wolfsburg says: “As soon as we become aware of allegations against one of our suppliers, we will investigate the matter.” The measures could also include terminating the supplier relationship if serious violations are confirmed. Such problems cannot be completely ruled out in the future because the supply chain is complex. According to VW, it has around 1,200 group companies and around 90,000 supplier relationships worldwide.
The Xinjiang controversy has kept VW in suspense for months. Last year, the group initiated an external audit at a plant that is located in the provincial capital of Urumqi and is majority controlled by its partner SAIC. After it became known this week that forced labor may have been used to build a test track in the region, VW is considering withdrawing from Xinjiang. Various scenarios are being “intensively examined,” VW said.
#Thousands #cars #stuck #ports
