Thread by @fbermingham

NEW: Xinjiang's exports to the EU soared by 131% in the first half of 2021, led by surges in some goods that have been flagged as being linked to forced labour by the United States

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The EU currently has no ban on such goods but is processing supply chain legislation that would seek to remove goods linked to forced labour from the market.

Shipments came off a low base due to Covid shutdowns last year, but are up 103.5% on 2019's levels

Germany bought 143% more goods from Xinjiang in the first six months vs a year earlier, exports to Italy rose 32% and the Netherlands 187%, and Belgium 1,591%

Post Brexit UK bought 192.2% more goods from Xinjiang in the first half of 2021

In total, the EU imported US$373.2 million worth of Xinjiang-made goods between January and June, more than triple the value of such goods shipped to the United States

Huge increase in shipments of tomato products to Italy, these have been flagged in a recent US government advisory as being inextricably linked to forced labour. Materials for synthetic fabrics also rose enormously to Germany, Italy, Spain.

By far the biggest EU export to Xinjiang was chemical wood pulp. As we reported in March, this is also has murky links to forced labour. Finland's exports of this to Xinjiang was 10 times larger than any other export

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The day after this report, Finnish company Stora Enso said it would exit the market, but we can see that they are exporting more wood pulp to Xinjiang than ever before. A spokesperson tells us they will divest by the end of the year...

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