adidas, Nike and SHEIN to disclose supply chain over alleged forced labour in China

US lawmakers are questioning some of the world’s largest apparel companies, such as adidas, Nike and SHEIN, for possible links to forced labour in China during the production of its products.

Recently, US lawmakers sent letters to the company leaders of SHEIN, Nike and adidas to confront them about the use of materials and labour sourced from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region of China, according to The Straits Times (ST). 

In the letters, which were seen by AFP, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party cited witness testimonies that said that Nike and adidas might be getting materials from China’s Xinjiang region. This is illegal according to US law. 

The letters said that it would like to "offer" Nike and adidas the opportunity to respond to these "serious allegations" and to provide information that they are compliant with the Uighur Forced Labour Prevention Act.

US lawmakers also reached out to fashion companies Shien and Temu to ask them to verify that they comply with supply chain laws in the US. 

To date, neither adidas, Nike, nor SHEIN have responded to the letter in an official manner. The companies were asked to respond by 16 May.

At the heart of the issue is whether the apparel companies are following the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA), passed with bipartisan support in 2021, amid concerns about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, a major source of cotton, tomatoes and solar panel components. According to researchers, authorities in the area have imprisoned and forced Uyghur and other ethnic groups to work. China has criticised the law and refuted claims that it has violated human rights.

The letters to these fashion brands come just after a separate bipartisan group of US lawmakers asked regulators to make it a requirement that SHEINn does not use forced Chinese labour as an IPO condition. 

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"SHEIN is aggressively raising capital and plans to execute an IPO before the end of this calendar year," SEC wrote in a letter seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. “SHEIN has come under heavy criticism for utilising underpaid labour in its supplier factories and violating human rights. While SHEIN claims its products do not utilise Uyghur forced labour and it works with third parties to audit its facilities, experts counter these types of audits are easily manipulated or falsified by state-sponsored pressure,” continued the letter.

SHEIN is no stranger to controversy. In March, a new group launched in the US called "Shut Down SHEIN" to educate relevant US government officials and the American public to the ways in which SHEIN is alleged to be committing human rights abuses, exploiting import laws and making its unwitting American consumers accomplices in the process. The group said that SHEIN has “significant ties” to TikTok and the CCP, and “has been operating below the radar with no regard for US law or ethical business practices”. It added that SHEIN's “questionable and anticompetitive business practices allow it to sell below market products”.

This was also not the first-time questions were raised over Nike’s supply chain. In March, Nike was urged to be more transparent about working conditions, particularly regarding the tracking of forced labour and potential dangers of pay theft, by activist retail investor Tulipshare.

As for Adidas, the brand was accused by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in 2020 of acquiring supplies from factories that used forced labour.

To address controversies, Nike previously said it was "concerned about reports of forced labour" in the Chinese region, while Adidas said in 2019 that it had "no contractual relationship with any Xinjiang supplier."

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