On August 27, 2021, Esquel Group filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, requesting to arrange a hearing date and restart the proceedings against the U.S. Department of Commerce to correct its decision to change Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (Changji for short) Esquel) was wrongly included in the Entity List.
Hong Kong apparel giant Esquel Group sued the U.S. government, objecting to the previous Trump administration’s blacklisting of its subsidiaries on the grounds of “forced labor in Xinjiang.”
Esquel Group said the U.S. government had “erroneously” blacklisted its subsidiary and “wrongly accused” it of using forced labor in Xinjiang, which is a threat to the company. Causing “devastating reputational and commercial harm”.
On July 20 last year, the Trump administration added Esquel’s subsidiary Xinjiang Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (Changji Esquel) to the entity list, banning U.S. companies from Conduct business with them without permission.
Esquel Group stated in a statement that the United States made this move without factual basis and that the company’s factories in Xinjiang did not use forced labor. Multiple third-party independent audit agencies conducted audits using internationally recognized industry standards, including on-site inspections of Xinjiang factories and random independent interviews with Uyghur employees.
The statement read: “All audit results clearly show that there is no evidence to prove that Changji Esquel has engaged in forced labor or coercion of employees under any circumstances.
In addition, Changji Esquel is not a labor-intensive factory. Changji Esquel’s production operations mainly rely on technologically advanced, highly automated equipment and professionally trained technical personnel.”
Previously, the End-User Review Committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce (The End-User Review Committee) agreed on July 31, 2021 that Changji Esquel can be removed from the Entity List provided that it meets certain conditions. removed. To this end, Esquel Group and the U.S. Department of Commerce jointly applied for a stay of proceedings on August 3. The parties will use this time to jointly seek to satisfy the conditions imposed by the End User Review Board.
On July 6, 2021, Hong Kong textile and apparel manufacturer Esquel Group filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding its subsidiary Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (referred to as Changji Esquel). The company filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia regarding the entry into the Entity List, seeking legal relief for the economic and reputational damage caused to the entire group. Esquel Group has always treated employees fairly, protected labor rights, upheld business ethics, and was committed to promoting sustainable development, which has been widely recognized by all sectors of society. Therefore, the Esquel Group categorically denies the U.S. Department of Commerce’s false accusations against Changji Esquel. These accusations are diametrically opposed to all business and behavioral principles upheld by the Esquel Group.
During the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Changji Esquel to the Entity List without prior notification and without evidence, which had a negative impact on the entire Esquel business. The group has caused immeasurable reputational damage and financial losses. Since September 2020, Esquel Group has been actively and transparently responding to relevant accusations and has submitted multiple business documents to the End-User Review Committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce (The End-User Review Committee) to prove that the accusations are false. However, the U.S. government has not yet made any substantive response to this or provided relevant evidence to support its decision to include Changji Esquel on the entity list. For this reason, we have no choice but to resort to legal means in order to end as soon as possible the ongoing and damaging reputational and commercial damage caused by this false accusation to the company.
James Tysse, a partner at the American law firm Akin Gump, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Esquel Group, said: “The U.S. Department of Commerce has never made any Esquel is a globally recognized leader in corporate social responsibility and has There are many pieces of evidence that clearly show that Esquel Group has a good record in terms of employment and human rights protection, but the US Department of Commerce’s accusations against Changji Esquel are completely contrary to the above facts.”
The list falsely accuses Changji Esquel of using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, which is completely inconsistent with the facts. A number of global third-party independent audit institutions used internationally recognized industry standards such as SMETA (an internationally recognized ethical audit format) to conduct audits of Changji Esquel, including conducting on-site inspections of Changji Esquel in Xinjiang and conducting interviews with many employees. Random independent interviews were conducted with Uyghur employees. All audit results clearly show that there is no evidence to prove that Changji Esquel has engaged in forced labor or coercion of employees under any circumstances. In addition, Changji Esquel is not a labor-intensive factory. Changji Esquel’s production operations mainly rely on technologically advanced, highly automated equipment and professionally trained technical personnel.
Ms. Yang Minde, Chairman and CEO of Esquel Group, emphasized: “The practice of forced or coerced labor is completely contrary to the principles that Esquel Group has adhered to since its establishment more than 40 years ago. We respect all employees working in the Xinjiang region, fully maintain their dignity, and always actively work hard to create an inclusive working environment for all employees that respects each other and is free from any form of discrimination or intimidation. We will do this under any circumstances.�Neither has ever used forced or coerced labor. ”
In the past 10 months, Esquel Group has provided a large amount of corporate information to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s End User Review Board, hoping that the matter can be resolved fairly. We have also proactively Proposed to accept further independent audits and facilitate on-site inspections of the factory by relevant officials and representatives. However, the End-User Review Committee has so far not provided any factual basis for its inclusion of Changji Esquel in the Entity List.
In addition to the lack of factual basis, the lawsuit also pointed out that the U.S. Department of Commerce lacked legal basis for including Changji Esquel on the Entity List. Therefore, Esquel Group filed a request with the district court to request that the U.S. Department of Commerce The administrative procedures and records followed in making this decision.
Ms. Yang Minde emphasized: “We always hope that the U.S. Department of Commerce can take the initiative to clarify this matter and correct this obvious However, as of now, the End User Review Committee has not made a specific response to the large amount of information submitted by the company, or taken any measures to correct its wrong behavior of including Changji Esquel in the Entity List. As a result, we have had to take legal action to protect our business rights and reduce the tremendous harm this matter is causing to our business, employees and business partners every day. ”
On August 27, 2021, Esquel Group filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, requesting to arrange a hearing date and restart its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce proceedings to correct its erroneous decision to include Changji Esquel Textile Co., Ltd. (referred to as Changji Esquel) on the Entity List.
Since early August, Esquel Group has actively Dialogue was initiated with the U.S. Department of Commerce, but no agreement was reached on relevant conditions. The U.S. government has never proposed a clear timetable for consultations. At the same time, Esquel Group continues to suffer increasingly serious and irreplaceable losses. For example, Esquel A large number of the Group’s goods shipped to the United States from factories outside China were detained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and refused entry. This may cause the Esquel Group to be unable to complete customer orders on time, causing permanent economic and reputational losses to the company’s development. This A series of situations have left us with no choice but to continue to resort to legal channels.
During the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce made a decision without prior notification and without evidence support. Under such circumstances, Changji Esquel was included in the Entity List. Esquel Group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce on July 6, accusing the U.S. Department of Commerce of lacking legal and factual basis for including Changji Esquel in the Entity List, and requested View the administrative procedures and records followed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in making this decision.
On July 31, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s End User Review Board announced that it can satisfy customers at Changji Esquel It will be removed from the entity list under certain conditions. On August 3, Esquel Group and the U.S. Department of Commerce initiated a joint motion to apply to postpone the timeline of the litigation proceedings for 30 days. During this period, the two parties will conduct consultations, In order to meet the conditions set by the End-User Committee. As of August 26, the United States insisted that many variables may cause both parties to fail to meet these conditions on time. Therefore, they are unable to put forward a clear timetable for the measures to be taken by both parties in the next stage.
Esquel Group said: We still firmly believe that the facts and the law are on our side in this case. We also look forward to the U.S. judicial authorities making a speedy ruling on this case.
The full-process intelligent new cotton spinning mill located in Changji, Xinjiang has 30,000 spindles and is controlled by only 45 employees. If a cotton spinning mill of this size is operated in a traditional way, it generally requires about 150 workers to operate it.
In 1995, Esquel expanded its business to Xinjiang, which is rich in long-staple cotton. By the end of 2019, Esquel’s team in Xinjiang exceeded 1,300 people.
For more details about this case and Esquel Group’s position, please check the relevant records on the group’s official website. </p
