US Restricts Exports to 5 Chinese Firms Over Alleged Rights Violations 

The United States on Wednesday restricted exports to five Chinese companies that it said were implicated in Chinese human rights violations, including large producers of polysilicon for the solar panel industry.

The companies added to the Commerce Department's Entity List include Hoshine Silicon Industry Co.; Xinjiang Daqo New Energy Co., a unit of Daqo New Energy Corp.; Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals Co., a subsidiary of Shanghai-based manufacturing giant East Hope Group; Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Co.; and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC). At least some of the companies are major manufacturers of monocrystalline silicon and polysilicon that are used in solar panel production. The companies were listed over human rights violations and abuses of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, according to a government filing on Wednesday. The department said the firms were accepting or utilizing forced labor.