Wyden Continues Auto Parts Rights Campaign

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore)  is ramping up his investigation into auto supply chain links to forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China, after automakers failed to provide details about their supply chains following an earlier request.

The senator sent letters today to eight major automakers and tier one suppliers seeking information about how the companies source materials and oversee their supply chains.

The new round of questions come after initial requests to the automakers last December failed to provide specific details about how corporations oversee supply chains to ensure no goods made with forced labor are used in autos.

In their responses, the automakers suggested that their suppliers bare the responsibility for making sure their supply chains do not include goods made with forced labor.

Letters were sent yesterday requesting further supply chain information from the eight automakers – American Honda Motor Company Incorporated, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company, Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, Stellantis NV, Tesla Incorporated, Toyota Motor North America Incorporated and Volkswagen Group of America Incorporated.

Request to Suppliers

The senator also sent letters to the automakers’ immediate – or tier 1 – suppliers requesting

information about how those companies source materials and monitor their supply chains. The suppliers are: Continental AG, DENSO Corporation, Magna International Incorporated, Robert Bosch GmbH, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

“Information I have learned from the initial stages of the Committee’s investigation raises serious questions about tier 1 suppliers’ ability to ensure that sub-suppliers do not rely on forced labor,” Sen. Wyden wrote in his letters to the suppliers.

“I recognize that tier 1 suppliers rely on complex supply chains to source thousands of parts from across the world. However, this complexity cannot cause the United States to compromise its fundamental commitment to upholding human rights and US law.”

Finance’s investigation was sparked by a report by researchers at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, which found links between Chinese companies operating in Xinjiang and automakers that import parts from them, including batteries, wiring and wheels.