U.S. Puts Chinese Company With Kentucky Ties on Forced Labor Ban List
The Department of Homeland Security said goods from Ninestar and eight subsidiaries will be restricted from entering the U.S. as of Monday. Photo: Susan Walsh/Associated Press By Richard Vanderford June 9, 2023 6:24 pm ET The U.S. has blocked the import of goods made by Chinese laser printer maker Ninestar, majority owner of U.S.-based Lexmark International, over the company’s alleged use of forced labor tied to China’s Xinjiang region. Goods from Ninestar and eight Zhuhai, China-based subsidiaries will be restricted from entering the U.S. as of Monday because of the “companies’ participation in business practices that target members of persecuted groups” including Uyghurs, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. “The use of forced labor offends our values and undercuts Am
The Department of Homeland Security said goods from Ninestar and eight subsidiaries will be restricted from entering the U.S. as of Monday.
Photo: Susan Walsh/Associated Press
The U.S. has blocked the import of goods made by Chinese laser printer maker Ninestar, majority owner of U.S.-based Lexmark International, over the company’s alleged use of forced labor tied to China’s Xinjiang region.
Goods from Ninestar and eight Zhuhai, China-based subsidiaries will be restricted from entering the U.S. as of Monday because of the “companies’ participation in business practices that target members of persecuted groups” including Uyghurs, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.
“The use of forced labor offends our values and undercuts American businesses and workers,” Homeland Security Undersecretary Robert Silvers said Friday. “Forced labor is now a top-tier compliance issue, and businesses must know their supply chains.”
A representative for Ninestar didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. has engaged in an enforcement push to try to eradicate forced labor-linked goods from company supply chains through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a law that came into force last year. The Ninestar ban, announced Friday, shows government willingness to target a global company with substantial U.S. ties.
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Subscribe NowNinestar, then called Apex Technology, in 2016 led a group of investors to buy Lexington, Ky.-based Lexmark International, a consumer printer brand that says it employs nearly 2,000 people in the U.S. Ninestar holds 62% of Lexmark but the company is managed stateside, according to a spokeswoman.
“Lexmark investors have no operational control of the company,” she said.
The Ninestar acquisition was reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a government body that reviews deals with potential national security implications, and Lexmark agreed to maintain an independent board consisting of U.S. citizens only, the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Lexmark sources printers from Ninestar.
“Lexmark is committed to upholding the highest standards of human rights and fair labor practices,” she said. “We do not anticipate business disruption resulting from the order.”
Ninestar, which reported $3.63 billion in 2022 revenue, was added to an “entity list” maintained under the UFLPA that lists companies whose goods are presumed to be made with forced labor. Nearly two dozen companies are currently on that list. Ninestar was added to a section for companies that worked with Xinjiang’s government to “recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor,” according to a public notice.
The U.S. government’s move against Ninestar “shows that the U.S. understands that this affects U.S. business, but it’s going to enforce the law,” said Laura Murphy, a professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the U.K. who researches forced labor.
Ninestar on its website says it is the fourth-largest laser printer maker in the world and has business in more than 150 countries.
Also added to the UFLPA Entity List on Friday was Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical, an Urumqi, China-based chemical company. A representative for that company didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a special bipartisan government committee that focuses on China, called the actions Friday “a step in the right direction” but said forced labor-linked goods continue to enter the U.S. market. The committee has pushed for strong enforcement of the UFLPA.
“American consumers should not be unwittingly subsidizing the PRC’s genocide,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), who serve as chairs of the committee.
Write to Richard Vanderford at [email protected]
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