Shein was founded in Nanjing, China, in 2008. Its current headquarters are in Singapore.
Fast-fashion giant Shein is the latest company to face increased scrutiny from Washington, after a sprawling report by a Congressional committee investigating China detailed allegations of copyright infringement and unfair labor practices.
The retailer, which was founded in China but is based in Singapore, has dodged accusations of unfair labor practices for years.
Specifically, the report published by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) accuses Shein of allegedly sourcing cotton from Xinjiang, a violation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The report comes just a week after a bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers wrote a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) demanding increased scrutiny of Shein’s business practices.
“There are credible allegations of the company’s use of underpaid and forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” the letter said, also asking the SEC to independently verify that Shein doesn’t use forced labor before allowing it to launch an IPO in the US.
The USCC report also cites numerous lawsuits against the company for blatantly copying high-fashion designs with low-priced materials, as well as alleging that it dodges US tariff and customs inspections to keep the price of its products low.
The USCC expresses similar concerns about the business practices of Temu, a Shein competitor that lets American consumers buy products directly from Chinese warehouses. Temu has surged in popularity this year, becoming the most popular download in the iOS app store for a four-month period last fall.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/us-investigating-shein-over-alleged-203400294.html
