- Over 1000 shipments of solar energy components piled up at U.S. ports.
- Seizures intended to heap pressure on Beijing over its Uyghur detention camps.
More than 1000 shipments of solar energy components worth hundreds of millions of dollars have piled up at U.S. ports since June under a new law banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about slave labour, according to federal customs officials and industry sources.
The level of seizures reflects how a policy intended to heap pressure on Beijing over its Uyghur detention camps in Xinjiang risks slowing the Biden administration’s efforts to decarbonize the U.S. power sector to fight climate change.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection had seized 1,053 shipments of solar energy equipment between June 21, when the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act went into effect, and October 25, and none of the shipments had yet been released.
The agency would not reveal the manufacturers or confirm details about the quantity of solar equipment in the shipments, citing federal law that protects confidential trade secrets.