(Reuters) -Chinese battery companies CATL and Gotion High Tech should immediately be added to a U.S. import ban list, according to a group of Republican lawmakers, who allege their supply chains use forced labor, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Lawmakers called for CATL and Gotion, which have ties to Ford (NYSE:) and Volkswagen (ETR:) respectively, to be added to what is known as the Entity List under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the report said Thursday. .
The Entity List restricts the import of goods linked to what the US government has characterized as an ongoing genocide of minorities in China’s Xinjiang region. Beijing denies all abuses.
Any accusation that Gotion “uses or is associated with forced labor is baseless and absolutely false,” the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding that its selection of partners is based on “strict assessment mechanisms and evaluation criteria.”
Volkswagen Group China has no evidence of human rights abuses related to its business activities in China, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement on Friday.
Volkswagen is also immediately investigating these allegations, “as we have done in the past,” the spokesperson added.
Volkswagen China Investment Co owns 26% of Gotion, and the latter has not been nominated for any US projects or import activities in the country, the Volkswagen spokesperson said.
CATL said in a statement that the allegations against it were “baseless and completely false,” and that it complied with applicable laws and regulations.
Business relationships with some of the suppliers mentioned “ended a long time ago,” according to the report.
Ford did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.