The Trump administration is directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to block imports from BGI Group, BGI Genomics and MGI Tech starting Thursday. Homeland Security says the companies are linked to sourcing or labor practices in Xinjiang and cites reporting about their support for genetic testing there. BGI Group denies engaging in forced labor and says it opposes the practice. The restriction falls under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, whose blacklist reached 187 entities after an expansion in August. The announcement gives no fee, paperwork, exemption process or estimate of costs to buyers, leaving those operational details unspecified. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for enforcing the import bar.
TLDR: Federal customs officials will bar goods from three Chinese biotech companies beginning Thursday under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. DHS cites alleged Xinjiang links; BGI Group denies forced-labor involvement, and the announcement does not detail fees or shipment procedures.
The Trump administration is blocking imports from BGI Group and two affiliated Chinese biotechnology companies, citing alleged links to forced labor in Xinjiang. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is set to bar their goods starting Thursday. The restriction applies to BGI Group, BGI Genomics and MGI Tech, which the Department of Homeland Security says are connected to sourcing materials in the region or working with its government.
The administration’s stated rationale is that the companies’ activities may support forced labor and the surveillance of ethnic minorities. DHS says genetic testing in Xinjiang can facilitate monitoring and repression, and cites what it calls credible corporate and government reporting. The measure is part of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which Congress enacted in 2021 to address allegations of abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
DHS says the companies have either sourced materials from Xinjiang or worked with the regional government to “recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive forced labor.” The department says the firms supported genetic testing there. Its account links collection and analysis of genetic material to surveillance and repression, including forced labor. The allegations are government claims, not a finding described in the available account.
BGI Group denies wrongdoing. In a statement Wednesday, it said it “has not engaged in any form of forced labor” and opposes all forms of forced labor. The company has also described itself as privately owned and said it does not serve patients in the United States or have access to Americans’ genetic data. Those responses stand alongside the administration’s stated concerns; the import ban takes effect regardless of the company’s denial.
BGI is a major biotechnology company known for genetic sequencing technologies. DHS says BGI Group has controlling stakes in BGI Genomics and MGI Tech. The three companies are already labeled Chinese military companies by the Pentagon, a designation the account says carries reputational damage. U.S. lawmakers and policymakers have also raised concerns about BGI’s alleged ties to the Chinese government and its access to large amounts of genetic data, citing possible effects on national security and commercial interests.
The federal action adds a defined enforcement step to a broader policy debate over biotechnology and China. Biotechnology has become another area of economic and technological competition between the two countries. Last week, the Treasury Department proposed new limits on U.S. investments in biotechnology, artificial intelligence and supercomputing in countries such as China. That proposal is separate from the import restriction and is not described as a finalized rule.
The import action uses authority under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed at the end of 2021 by then-President Joe Biden after allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The Chinese government has rejected those allegations as lies and defended its Xinjiang policies as measures to fight terror and ensure stability. The competing claims are part of the context for the new restriction, while the immediate enforcement decision is in the hands of federal customs officials.
The administration expanded the law’s blacklist in August, adding 43 Chinese companies and bringing the total number of listed entities to 187. Congress previously did not pass a bill specifically barring BGI from doing business with federally funded medical providers. It did pass a similar provision without naming companies and called for a list of biotechnology companies of concern. The import ban is a separate measure from those efforts.
The practical effect is direct: starting Thursday, Customs and Border Protection will bar goods from the three named firms from entering the United States. The restriction affects shipments by BGI Group, BGI Genomics and MGI Tech, with implications for supply chains that rely on their goods. The available account provides no fee, form, appeal process, shipment-exemption procedure or estimated cost to buyers, and it does not quantify effects on local economies or particular state industries. Those details remain unspecified in the announced plan.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said the administration intends to protect American workers from being undercut by foreign companies using forced labor. The enforcement date is the next concrete step stated in the announcement. Customs and Border Protection will carry out the import bar, while the broader law’s blacklist has already grown to 187 entities. Further operational details and the effects on affected supply chains are not specified in the available account.
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