Wyden questions BMW over its use of components made with forced labor

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on BMW to provide straight answers about its use of parts made by a banned Chinese supplier, following shifting explanations from the German automaker in response to a Finance Committee Democratic staff investigation, in a letter sent Monday. 

As part of the original investigation, Finance Committee staff discovered that BMW imported thousands of vehicles into the United States that included parts banned under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). BMW initially denied that its autos intended for the U.S. market included parts from banned suppliers, but it later disclosed that it shipped to the United States at least 8,000 Mini Cooper cars containing components from Sichuan Jingweida Technology Group Co., Ltd. (JWD), a company added to UFLPA Entity List in December 2023, and whose goods are presumed to be made with forced labor.

“The United States considers the Chinese government’s brutal oppression of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region an ‘ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity,’” Wyden wrote in his letter. “The Committee is continuing to investigate several aspects of BMW’s exposure to forced labor through JWD, its tier 3 supplier.” 

Importing goods made with forced labor to the United States has been illegal since the 1930s. Recognizing the systematic, government-sanctioned use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China, UFLPA in 2021 strengthened enforcement of the law with respect to facilities in Xinjiang and other entities identified as having been complicit in China’s forced labor scheme. 

Despite those laws, automakers have been slow to adequately watchdog their supply chains to ensure parts originating in Xinjiang and other identified entities are not used in cars and trucks imported to the United States, the staff report found. 

A copy of the letter text is here. 

Wyden requested BMW provide answers to the following questions: 

1. On May 6, 2024 BMW informed the Committee that it had imported approximately 8,000 vehicles containing components produced by JWD. On May 17, 2024, BMW informed the Committee that it was continuing to examine its supply chains to determine whether other products it imported into the United States after December 11, 2023 included components produced by JWD.
   1. Please describe the process BMW used to examine its supply chain to determine whether other products it imported into the United States after December 11, 2023 included components produced by JWD.
   2. Has BMW completed its examination of its supply chain to determine whether other products it imported into the United States after December 11, 2023 included components produced by JWD? If not, when does BMW anticipate completing its examination?
   3. To date, has this search identified any additional vehicles or spare parts imported by BMW containing components produced by JWD since December 11, 2023? If so, please identify the model, model year, and number of each type of vehicle affected. Please also identify how many of the affected vehicles or spare parts were imported during each calendar week from December 11, 2023 to present.
2. Is BMW certain that it is not currently importing vehicles containing components produced by JWD? 
3. Do any corporate records of any type (including, but not limited to, production part approval documents, product change notifications, bills of material, emails, presentations, or other internal communications), produced by any party, possessed by BMW before December 11, 2023 indicate that LAN transformers BMW purchased from Lear Corporation, included components produced by JWD?
   1. If so, please provide copies of all such records and describe the methods used by BMW to conduct a reasonably diligent search for such records.
   2. If not, please describe the methods used by BMW to conduct a reasonably diligent search for such records.
4. On January 11, 2024 BMW was informed in writing by Lear that LAN transformers Lear sold to BMW included components made by JWD and that JWD had been added to the UFLPA Entity List. BMW continued importing vehicles containing these JWD components for months.
   1. Please provide a copy of the written notification referenced above.
   2. Please explain what action BMW took when it received this notification.
5. BMW informed the Committee that it “began the process of stopping imports” of vehicles containing components made by JWD on April 5, 2024.
   1. Was April 5, 2024 the date on which BMW became aware that it was importing vehicles containing components made by JWD? If not, please identify the date on which BMW became aware that it was importing vehicles containing components made by JWD. Please describe, fully and in detail, how BMW became aware on that date that it was importing vehicles containing components made by JWD. If outreach from any external party was in any way involved in this process, please identify this party and describe its role, including, but not limited to, the date and details of this outreach.
   2. If BMW became aware that BMW was importing vehicles containing components made by JWD after reviewing its own records, please describe, fully and in detail, what prompted this review. If outreach from any external party was in any way involved in this process, please identify this party and describe its role, including, but not limited to, the date and details of this outreach.
   3. Please describe the “process of stopping imports” in detail from April 5, 2024 to its conclusion, if it has concluded, or, if it had not concluded, to the present.
   4. Please describe, from the date on which BMW became aware that it was importing vehicles containing components made by JWD to April 25, 2024, how information was shared internally about BMW importing vehicles containing components made by JWD. Please include the dates on which key BMW employees were informed of this incident.
   5. Please describe any remedial actions BMW has undertaken to address any cars or spare parts containing JWD parts improperly imported by BMW after December 11, 2023. 
6. Please describe BMW’s “supplier list,” including, but not limited to, what companies are listed on it, how it is updated, and how BMW employees access and search it.