China has barred its companies and citizens from dealing with six U.S. firms and organizations tied to cotton-traceability testing and supply-chain compliance, retaliating against Washington’s largest-ever single expansion of its forced-labor import blacklist.
The Ministry of Commerce order, issued under China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and effective August 5, targets Applied DNA Sciences, Stratum Reservoir, Altana Technologies, the Responsible Business Alliance, Verite Group and Human Rights in China. All six are accused of assisting U.S. sanctions against Chinese companies over alleged forced labor in Xinjiang. The move prohibits Chinese entities from engaging in transactions or cooperation with the named firms. Read Here
The countermeasure follows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s addition of 43 Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List on July 31, effective August 3. The expansion, which took the list to 187 entities, spans sectors including apparel, cotton, aluminum, copper and tomatoes, and triggers a rebuttable presumption that goods from the named firms are barred from entering the United States.
Among the sanctioned U.S. entities, Stratum Reservoir’s Isotech unit performs isotopic origin-testing on cotton and other natural fibers, while Applied DNA Sciences developed molecular tagging tools used to trace raw fiber to its source, though the firm rebranded last year as BNB Plus Corp. and shifted toward blockchain services. The Responsible Business Alliance and Verite Group both provide factory audits, worker-welfare assessments and supply-chain risk research used by apparel brands to screen for forced labor. Altana Technologies supplies AI-driven supply-chain mapping tools used in compliance enforcement.
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The China Cotton Association said Sunday the U.S. allegations lack factual or legal basis, noting mechanized harvesting now accounts for more than 90% of cotton production in Xinjiang. The association warned the sanctions have destabilized the global cotton supply chain and urged Chinese textile firms to diversify export markets and strengthen supply-chain resilience.
A Commerce Ministry spokesperson called the U.S. entity-list expansion economic coercion dressed up as a human-rights measure. Analysts cited by state media said the dispute adds uncertainty for brands relying on third-party traceability and audit services to verify Xinjiang-free sourcing, potentially complicating compliance work across China’s textile sector.
The exchange marks the latest escalation in a broader tit-for-tat: Washington has separately imposed tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on imports from more than 60 trading partners, including China and the EU, over forced-labor compliance concerns.
Headline: China Bars 6 US Firms Tied to Cotton Traceability Checks.