Shein's IPO in the US has not yet been finalized, and the US Congress is making trouble again

It is learned that according to foreign media reports, on May 4, a group of 24 US congressmen and bipartisan representatives wrote to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, asking Shein to provide evidence that it did not use Xinjiang forced labor cotton, otherwise Shein would be banned from IPO in the United States.

Shein was valued at $64 billion in a private funding round set to close in April, down 33% from a year earlier. So far, Shein has never publicly talked about an IPO, but several media reports have said the company plans to list in the U.S. in the second half of this year.

In the letter, the lawmakers said there were "credible allegations" that Shein used low-wage labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and was suspected of falsifying slave labor reports at its partner factories, particularly those located in the region.

Shein responded that it takes its entire supply chain seriously and is committed to respecting human rights and complying with the laws and regulations in every market where it operates.

It is understood that the United States has always had forced labor allegations against Shein and passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2021. As of February, China's exports of textile raw materials and clothing fell 14.1% year-on-year amid the US crackdown, the Global Times reported in early April.

However, at the recent third session of the 133rd China Import and Export Fair (commonly known as the Canton Fair), cotton textile products from the Xinjiang region seemed unaffected by the US crackdown, with more than 100 domestic and foreign buyers signing intended transactions worth 570 million yuan (82.46 million US dollars).

Wang Jiang, an expert at the Institute of China Borderland Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, said that facts show that the abuse of financial hegemony and market dominance by the United States cannot prevent Xinjiang products from being sold to the market and entering the global market. Many of these customers are from Asian, African and Latin American countries, which are less affected by the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) of the United States.

In addition, China's Xinjiang's cotton industry is upgrading to more efficient, more environmentally friendly products and larger-scale planting, which will ultimately make Xinjiang's products more competitive.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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