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Dive Brief:

• PVH Corp. is under investigation by the China Ministry of Commerce over the alleged boycotting of cotton sourced from the Xinjiang region, according to multiple posts on the Ministry of Commerce’s website. 

• China accused the Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger parent company of violating normal market trading practices, and further said the alleged boycott was without factual basis. If found at fault, PVH could be added to the country’s Unreliable Entity List.

• The company is in communication with the Ministry Commerce and will respond “in accordance with relevant regulations,” a spokesperson said in an email to Fashion Dive, and that the company complies with all relevant laws and regulations of the countries it operates in.

Dive Insight:

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, where the country has been accused of detaining more than 1 million Uyghur people, has been the subject of multiple U.S. laws and regulations. In 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed, which generally bans products from the region over forced labor concerns. Last week, lawmakers proposed an additional law focused on the region, the No Fund for Forced Labor Act, meant to prevent funding for projects that have a high risk of forced labor use.

In a press conference Wednesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian was asked by Bloomberg if the PVH investigation was connected to the U.S. government’s plan to block the sale or import of vehicle software and hardware originating from China, and if the country would launch more investigations into U.S. companies.

“[T]he Chinese government is firmly committed to advancing high-standard opening up, upholding the multilateral trading system and defending the lawful rights and interests of various kinds of market entities,” Jian said. “China always prudently handles issues related to the unreliable entity list, which only targets the very few foreign entities that undermine market rules and violate Chinese laws. There’s nothing to worry about for honest and law-abiding foreign entities.”

PVH, like all other U.S.- and Europe-based apparel companies, must comply with sourcing laws regarding regions suspected of forced labor, so it is unclear why it was singled out over all other international apparel brands that sell in China, according to David Swartz, senior equity analyst for Morningstar Research Services.