WSJ: Walmart Boycott in China Signals American Companies
Photo: Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
American companies run the risk of curtailing investment in China and even losing the market altogether, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) warns. The newspaper writes that the situation with the boycott of the Walmart retailer in China may become a signal for such actions for business.
Analysts interviewed by the publication came to the conclusion that American companies are currently in a difficult position. The situation is aggravated not only by political boycotts, but also by a sharp drop in demand, inflation and tough methods of dealing with new outbreaks of coronavirus. If the situation does not change, firms will have to look for other directions of development.
Walmart has faced criticism over its alleged rejection of imports from the Xinjiang region. Social media users said they could not find these products in online stores and boycotted the retailer. The fact is that the United States has passed a law that effectively prohibits shipments from the autonomous region of China, which is dominated by the Uyghur population, if companies cannot confirm the observance of human rights at their enterprises.
The US authorities decided to punish China by detaining goods at customs, the origin of which is considered suspicious. We are talking about goods in the production of which forced labor was used. In turn, Beijing called Washington's accusations of forced labor of Uyghurs in China as fabricated.
The Xinjiang region of China is home to over a million Uyghurs – Muslims of Turkic origin.
