KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): China said it will investigate US apparel maker PVH Corp for suspected boycotting of cotton sourced from its Xinjiang region, a probe that could lead to punishment for the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

The Ministry of Commerce asked PVH to submit a written response in 30 days on whether it has adopted “discriminative measures” against Xinjiang-related products in the last three years, according to a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Tuesday.

If found at fault, PVH Corp. could be added to an “unreliable entity list” that prevents offending foreign companies from trading with China, subjects them to fines or revokes their staff’s work permit, according to a 2020 order.

In a separate statement, the ministry said the company is suspected of “boycotting Xinjiang cotton and other products for no reason,” accusing it of damaging Chinese companies’ rights and interests as well as China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

PVH didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The company said in a 2022 supply chain report that it didn’t source from Xinjiang either directly or indirectly. 

US and European companies have been under pressure to pull away from factories that make clothes and other products in China’s Xinjiang region, where labour groups have documented alleged forced labour camps and other poor working conditions. China disputes these claims. 

The US enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2021, which bars imported goods partly or wholly made in Xinjiang unless companies can prove the products have no ties to forced labour. In August, the US expanded the list of Xinjiang-linked entities to 73 as worries over forced labour in China hang over the apparel industry.

China has so far publicly sanctioned five American companies using the entity list including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies over their arms sales to Taiwan, but such moves are largely symbolic as these firms don’t do business in the country. 

PVH, on the other hand, owns brands that have a large retail presence in the world’s second-largest economy. 

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