Trump administration bars some bicycles from Taiwanese brand Giant, citing forced labour

US customs officials on Sept 24 said that the United States would begin barring imports of bicycles manufactured in Taiwan by Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., saying that they had uncovered information indicating that the company was using forced labour.

Customs and Border Protection said that it would begin detaining bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories manufactured in Taiwan by Giant effective immediately under what is known as a “withhold release order”.

Giant is the world’s largest bike manufacturer, and its products can be found in large US stores such as Walmart, along with smaller, independent bike shops.

Customs said it was taking action in the wake of an investigation into Giant, which found abusive working and living conditions, debt bondage, withholding of wages, excessive overtime and other indicators of forced labour.

The government said that those factors had allowed the company to price its products for less than what American bicycle producers charge, resulting in “millions of dollars in unjustly earned profits”.

“CBP has a proven track record of cracking down on companies that use forced labour to the detriment of law-abiding US businesses,” the bureau’s commissioner, Rodney S. Scott, said in a statement.

Giant Bicycles could not immediately be reached for comment.

Customs and Border Protection currently has 53 withhold release orders in effect against various products, including certain cotton, apparel, machinery and electronics, the vast majority of which were imposed before President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Once the shipments in question are detained by Customs, importers can either have the goods destroyed, sent back overseas or try to prove that the merchandise is legal.

So far this year, the Trump administration has imposed such orders on a Chinese fishing vessel and a South Korean sea salt producer. In March, the administration quietly lifted a withhold release order on a Dominican sugar company that had political ties to Mr Trump.

The order comes at a moment of tension in the US-Taiwan relationship, as the two governments negotiate a trade deal. The Trump administration is mulling tariffs on semiconductors and other changes to technology policy that could be economically painful for Taiwan, a major producer of chips.

Giant Manufacturing was founded in Taiwan in the 1970s and has manufacturing facilities in China, the Netherlands, Hungary and Vietnam in addition to Taiwan. NYTIMES