BMW imported 8,000 cars with banned Chinese parts, Senate report finds

BMW is under intense scrutiny for importing at least 8,000 Mini Cooper vehicles into the United States that contain electronic components from a banned Chinese supplier, according to a U.S. Senate report released on Monday.

The Senate Finance Committee, led by Chairman Ron Wyden, revealed that the German automaker imported the vehicles equipped with parts from Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group (JWD), a company blacklisted under the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). This legislation aims to prevent goods produced with forced labour from entering the U.S. market, particularly those from China’s Xinjiang region, where the Uyghur minority group is reportedly subjected to forced labour.

“Automakers’ self-policing is not doing the job,” Wyden stated, emphasising the need for stricter enforcement by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency. He urged CBP to “supercharge enforcement and crack down on companies that fuel the shameful use of forced labour in China.”

BMW responded to the report by confirming that it has “taken steps to halt the importation of affected products.” The company announced a service action to replace the specific parts in question. BMW also reiterated its commitment to strict standards and policies regarding employment practices, human rights, and working conditions for all its direct suppliers.

The Senate report highlighted that the problematic components were sourced by Bourns Inc., a California-based auto supplier, and subsequently supplied to Lear Corp, a direct supplier for BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and other automakers. Bourns alerted Lear in January about the prohibited components, known as LAN transformers, which were manufactured by JWD.

In response, Lear informed its customers, including BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo, and Volkswagen, about the issue. “Lear promptly notified customers of products containing these components and worked with our supplier to expeditiously re-source the manufacture of these components to another sub-supplier,” a spokesperson from Lear confirmed.

The report disclosed that Jaguar Land Rover imported spare parts with JWD components even after the December ban. However, the automaker quickly quarantined all existing inventory containing the JWD components globally for destruction. “We immediately stopped all shipments of the two affected aftermarket service parts as soon as we learned of the issue,” Jaguar Land Rover stated, adding that it “takes human rights and forced labour issues seriously.”

Further findings indicated that Volkswagen also faced similar issues. In February, several thousand Porsche, Bentley, and Audi vehicles were held at U.S. ports due to subcomponents that breached anti-forced labour laws. These vehicles reportedly contained the JWD electronic parts.

Volvo Cars, however, received LAN transformers for a new car program that had not yet entered production, ensuring none were used in its vehicles, the report added.

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