A United States of America congressional report has revealed that car manufacturers BMW, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Volkswagen used car parts made by Chinese supplier Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group (JWD), which is on the list of firms sanctioned by the American government.

Under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) law passed by the U.S. congress in 2021, JWD was added to the UFLPA Entity List in December 2023 in connection to alleged use of forced labour which consequently prevented importation of its products into the United States.

The Chinese government has been accused of human rights violations against minority Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region by forcing them to work in harsh and controlled conditions, an allegation Beijing has vehemently denied on multiple occasions.

According to the report released on Monday by the United States Senate Committee on Finance, around 8,000 BMW Mini Cooper cars that were imported into the United States contained parts manufactured by JWD despite the company being placed on a ban.

“Automakers’ self-policing is clearly not doing the job,” the chairman of the committee, Democrat Senator Ron Wyden, said in a report. He also urged the US Customs and Border Protection agency to “supercharge enforcement and crack down on companies that fuel the shameful use of forced labour in China.”

JLR was also indicted in the report for having imported car parts made by JWD into the United States. The BBC reported that vehicle manufacturer said it had identified and destroying any stock it held around the world that include this component,

“Jaguar Land Rover takes human rights and forced labour issues seriously and has an active ongoing programme of human rights protection and anti-slavery measures,” JLR told the BBC.

Volkswagen noted in February this year that thousands of its vehicles including Porshes and Bentleys were being held by American authorities due to the cars having components that breached United States’ anti-forced labour laws.