BMW and Jaguar implicated in forced labor scandal involving Chinese parts

BMW stopped bringing in affected products and will change the specific parts. They imported over 8,000 Mini Cooper cars to the U.S. with parts from a banned Chinese supplier. The U.S. Senate report revealed this. The supplier was banned under a law from 2021. BMW kept importing products with these banned parts until at least April. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was passed in 2021 to stop goods made with forced labor from China's Xinjiang region. The law aims to prevent products made by the Uyghur minority group from entering the U.S. China denies these claims. Ron Wyden, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, criticized automakers for not doing enough to stop this. He wants Customs and Border Protection to enforce the law more strictly. The banned Chinese supplier was added to the UFLPA Entity List in December. This means their products are believed to be made with forced labor. Bourns supplied JWD parts to Lear Corp, a direct supplier for BMW and Jaguar Land Rover. Lear was told in January that the parts were made by JWD and were not allowed in U.S. vehicles. Lear then informed its customers and found a new supplier for the parts. Jaguar Land Rover stopped shipments of affected parts as soon as they found out. They take human rights and forced labor seriously. Volkswagen also used parts from the banned supplier. Volvo Cars received these parts but did not use them in their vehicles. BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Volkswagen bought parts from a banned Chinese supplier. These parts were used in vehicles imported to the U.S. The Senate investigation found that LAN transformers from the Chinese supplier were used in the vehicles. Lear Corp sold these parts to the automakers without knowing they were banned. Volkswagen replaced the parts in cars already in transit to the U.S. Jaguar Land Rover stopped using the parts in older vehicles. BMW continued importing cars with the banned parts until April. They have now stopped and will replace the parts.