A Senate inquiry into automakers found that BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen used parts from a Chinese manufacturer that is accused of using forced labor in Xinjiang.
The report, released on Monday by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee after a two-year investigation, found that the automakers used components that were originally sourced from a Chinese company that is banned under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2021.
“Automakers are sticking their heads in the sand and then swearing they can’t find any forced labor in their supply chains,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said. “Somehow, the Finance Committee’s oversight staff uncovered what multi-billion-dollar companies apparently could not: that BMW imported cars, Jaguar Land Rover imported parts, and VW AG manufactured cars that all included components made by a supplier banned for using Uyghur forced labor.”
The inquiry found that despite stronger U.S. laws to guard against parts originating in Xinjiang from ending up in vehicles, automakers “have been slow to adequately watchdog their supply chains.”
Specifically, following a January disclosure from Volkswagen that a shipment of its cars included parts from a banned supplier, investigators found that BMW imported thousands of vehicles intended for the United States that had parts in them banned under the 2021 law.
After Volkswagen voluntarily disclosed the problematic parts were in the vehicle shipment, the automaker was able to replace the parts before the vehicles entered the U.S. market.
Interviews and documents revealed that California-based auto supplier Bourns, Inc. sourced components from Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group, known as JWD, which is banned by the U.S. Investigators say that Bourns then provided those parts to Lear Corporation, which is a direct supplier for BMW and Jaguar Land Rover. Bourns alerted Lear earlier this year that LAN transformers had been built by JWD and were not allowed inside vehicles shipped to the U.S.
The investigation found that despite Lear sending letters to BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo, and VW AG about the banned components, BMW disclosed to the committee that at least 8,000 Mini Coopers had been shipped to the U.S. that contained JWD components.
“In fact, BMW continued to import products manufactured by JWD until at least April 2024 and appears to have stopped only after the committee repeatedly asked detailed questions to Lear and Lear’s OEM customers, including BMW, about their relationship with JWD,” the report reads. “BMW has informed the committee that it voluntarily disclosed to CBP that shipments of vehicles and spare parts that entered the US market after December 11, 2023 included a LAN transformer produced by JWD.”
“The details of these disclosures heightened the chairman’s concerns that automakers do not possess adequate visibility and compliance procedures to keep their supply chains free of forced labor,” according to the report.
Of note, the companies in question didn’t directly purchase the banned products from the blacklisted JWD.
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The Xinjiang region has caught the attention of leaders in the U.S. and around the world. The State Department declared in 2021 that the Chinese government was committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and using them as forced labor at internment camps in the region. China has vehemently denied the claims.
“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese party-state,” then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.