About a third of positive-tested items had fibers solely from the banned region, despite U.S. regulations over forced labor concerns.

Dive Brief:

• Cotton from the Xinjiang region of China was found in 19% of 822 cotton-containing products sampled from February 2023 to March 2024, according to a report provided to Fashion Dive by Applied DNA Sciences.
• The public company, which provides technology-based supply chain certification, also found that of the Xinjiang-positive samples claimed to be of single-origin, 57% were labeled as containing U.S.-only cotton. Products from the Xinjiang region are banned from sale in the U.S. due to concerns over forced labor, and the report noted that claims of origin affect a product’s eligibility for tariff reductions when imported to the U.S.
• Of the tested Xinjiang-positive samples, 66% were blended with cotton from other regions, while 34% were solely from Xinjiang, per the report. Of the blended samples, 42% contained cotton from Brazil, and 40% contained cotton from the U.S.