Feds respond to Ninestar of China lawsuit
(Lexmark is a division of Ninestar of China)
- Ninestar of China had recently filed a lawsuit demanding that their products be removed from a ban.
- U.S. has requested the Court of International Trade (CIT) to dismiss Ninestar of China’s lawsuit arguing that the decision to ban some of Ninestar’s products was “not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion” nor a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act as Ninestar is claiming
- Is asking CIT to deny Ninestar’s request for a preliminary injunction
- “China’s use of widespread state-sponsored force labor as part of a genocide against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang is well-documented”
- The U.S. government claims that companies like Ninestar are receiving subsidies for “forcing these individuals to work in manufacturing”
- Claims that about 80,000 ethnic minority workers have been transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China under a policy called “Xinjiang Aid” and work performed is not voluntary
- Ninestar is accused of using these groups to work in its manufacturing facilities in Zhuhai, China
- (on 7/11/2017, Lexmark announced it opened a facility in Zhuhai)
- The government also sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver demanding the professional basketball league to “ban any NBA-branded gear made with forced labor from China and prohibit
players from wearing shoes on game days that were made by Chinese companies using cotton from Xinjiang, a region where more than a million Uyghur Muslims are now held in barbed-wire camps”,
according to ESPN