By
Bloomberg
Published
September 24, 2024
China said it will investigate U.S. clothing maker PVH Corp. for allegedly boycotting cotton 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 has asked PVH to submit a written response within 30 days on whether it has taken “discriminatory measures” against Xinjiang-related products in the past three years, according to a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Tuesday.
If PVH Corp. is found to be at fault, it could be added to an “untrustworthy entity list” that bars offending foreign companies from trading with China, subjects them to fines or revokes the work permits of their staff, according to a 2020 order.
In a separate statement, the ministry said the company is suspected of “boycotting Xinjiang cotton and other products without any reason,” accusing it of harming the rights and interests of Chinese companies as well as China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.
PVH did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The company said in a 2022 supply chain report that it did not source from Xinjiang either directly or indirectly.
China has so far publicly sanctioned five U.S. companies using the entity list, including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies, for their arms sales to Taiwan, but such measures are largely symbolic since these companies do not 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.
In 2021, the United States enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans the import of goods made in whole or in part in Xinjiang unless companies can prove the products have no links to forced labor. In August, the Department of Homeland Security expanded the list of entities linked to Xinjiang to 73 as concerns about forced labor in China loom over the textile industry.
