Han further suspects that the million Uyghurs in the Xinjiang internment camps are likely also used for forced labor in a similar manner.

It also reported that investigations by NYT, Wall Street Journal, and Axios found evidence connecting the detention of Uyghurs to supply chains of major fashion retailers.

4 Vocational Skills Education and Training Center; hair products made in the Lop County Hair Product Industrial Park; apparel produced by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co., Ltd; and cotton produced and processed by Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co., Ltd.[16][17][18] On December 2, 2020, citing forced labor concerns, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Office of Trade issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) directing personnel at all U.S. ports of entry to detain all shipments containing cotton and cotton products originating from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

[19] On May 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security blocked cotton imports from 26 Chinese companies under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

In response to the DHS's action, the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. said that "The so-called 'Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act' is just an instrument of a few U.S. politicians to disrupt stability in Xinjiang and contain China's development.

The bill also calls for the President of the United States to impose sanctions on "any foreign person who 'knowingly engages'" in forced labor using minority Muslims.

[32] In July 2024, the U.S. government added aluminum, seafood, and polyvinyl chloride to its priority list for UFLPA enforcement.

[37] United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commissioners Gary Bauer,[38] James W. Carr,[39] and Nury Turkel[40] have called on Congress to pass the act.

The AFL–CIO and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention have supported the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

[41][42][43] Sophie Richardson, then China director of Human Rights Watch, said in April 2020 that the bill was unprecedented and could put pressure on companies seen as having some sway with Chinese authorities.

[48] In 2023, academics Zhun Xu and Fangfei Lin called sanctions against China "baseless" and "imperialist responses to the crises of global capitalism."

Lin wrote that the allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang cotton production made by the United States as grounds for sanctions are insufficiently supported.

[49] They cite the historic significance of Uyghur agricultural workers as a long-standing labor force for manual cotton harvesting and staffing companies' widespread recruitment of Uyghur workers due to lower travel costs and is therefore a case a market-driven employment and not forced labor.