US Slams the Door on Three Chinese Gene-Testing Giants Over Alleged Uyghur Forced Labor

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What Happened

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added three Chinese companies to its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The companies are BGI Genomics Co Ltd, MGI Tech Co Ltd and Shenzhen BGI Technology Co Ltd.

US Customs and Border Protection must now stop goods from listed companies at the border. Goods from these firms are presumed to involve forced labor. An importer can only get them through by proving otherwise.

DHS published the additions in the Federal Register, the government's official daily journal. With these three names, the list now holds 190 entities.

What the US Government Alleges

According to DHS, BGI Group and BGI Genomics carry out genetic testing in Xinjiang. Officials say they work with regional authorities to help recruit, transport, transfer or receive forced labor.

MGI Tech's alleged role is different. DHS says it supplies equipment and related support that the government uses to run the testing.

US officials also believe BGI Group tests genetic material from people in the region. It reportedly tests plants and animals as well.

The Companies Push Back

MGI Tech, based in Shenzhen, calls the allegations inconsistent with the facts. It says it has zero tolerance for forced labor in any form. It also says its US business is only a limited part of its overall operations.

BGI Group made a similar statement. It says it has never engaged in forced labor and that its US activities are a very small share of its business. It does not expect a material impact on its operations.

BGI Genomics had not responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting. Neither had the Chinese embassy in Washington. Beijing has long denied forced-labor allegations about Xinjiang. In earlier cases it called them a political lie.

What Is the UFLPA Entity List?

Congress passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in December 2021. It took effect in June 2022. It created a "rebuttable presumption": goods made wholly or partly in Xinjiang, or by a listed company, are assumed to involve forced labor and are barred from the US.

The Entity List names the companies that fall under this rule. It covers firms that work with the Xinjiang government on recruiting and moving persecuted minorities. It also covers firms that source materials from the region.

The products affected range widely. They include cotton, canned tomatoes and electronics.

Not the First Time for BGI

BGI has been under US scrutiny before. In March 2023, the Commerce Department put BGI Research and BGI Tech Solutions (Hong Kong) on its separate export-control list. It said they posed a significant risk of diversion to China's military programs. The US also accused the group of genetic analysis used to surveil and repress ethnic minorities. BGI said the Commerce Department may have been influenced by misinformation. It also said it does not condone human-rights abuses and is not state-owned or state-controlled.

Earlier, in 2020, the Commerce Department had already blacklisted Chinese firms over genetic analysis targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross accused Beijing of promoting forced labor and abusive DNA collection to repress its citizens.

Why the Timing Matters

The ban lands in the middle of a shaky trade truce between Washington and Beijing. The two sides have traded blows in the biotech sector before. In March 2025, China banned imports of gene-sequencing equipment from US firm Illumina. Illumina later said China's Commerce Ministry would lift the ban. But the company stays on China's Unreliable Entities List, so buyers still need government approval.

Background: A Long US Push on Xinjiang

Washington's pressure over Xinjiang is not new. In 2020, during Donald Trump's first term, Customs and Border Protection blocked imports of cotton, apparel, hair products and computer parts from the region. At the time, officials said the administration would not allow foreign companies to subject vulnerable workers to forced labor.

In January 2021, the US went further. It banned all cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang. Customs officials said they had found six forced-labor indicators defined by the International Labour Organization. These include restricted movement, intimidation and abusive conditions.

The US government and human rights groups say China has set up internment camps in Xinjiang. Uyghurs and other minorities are said to be held there and subjected to forced labor and other abuses. Beijing denies this.

Outlook

For BGI and MGI, the immediate effect is limited. Both say US sales are a small part of their business. The signal may matter more. Genetic data is among the most sensitive information a country can collect. Washington is now treating it as a human-rights and security issue at once.

Whether Beijing retaliates, and how this affects the trade truce, remains to be seen. China has hit back in the past with bans and blacklists of US companies.

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Sources

1. Reuters, "US bans imports from BGI Genomics, MGI Tech, citing ties to forced labor in Xinjiang" (Oct 28, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-bans-imports-three-chinese-genomics-companies-citing-forced-labor-2026-10-28/
2. US Department of Homeland Security, UFLPA Entity List: https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa-entity-list
3. CNN (via ABC17), "US adds Chinese genetics firms to trade blacklist over surveillance allegations" (2023): https://abc17news.com/?p=1123632
4. BioCentury, "BGI responds to U.S. blacklisting of subsidiaries" (March 6, 2023): https://www.biocentury.com/article/647053/bgi-responds-to-u-s-blacklisting-of-subsidiaries
5. US Commerce Department (BIS) release, "Eleven Chinese entities implicated in human rights abuses in Xinjiang added to the Entity List" (2020): https://ajot.com/news/commerce-department-adds-eleven-chinese-entities-implicated-in-human-rights-abuses-in-xinjiang-to-the-entity-list
6. Axios, "U.S. bans some imports of cotton, other products from Xinjiang made with forced labor" (2020): https://www.axios.com/us-xinjiang-cotton-imports-05182a43-0758-467f-acb1-a4497586d4e2.html
7. South China Morning Post (via Yahoo News), "US bans all imports of cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang, citing allegations of forced labour": https://news.yahoo.com/us-bans-imports-cotton-tomato-093000757.html

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