Bipartisan lawmakers question Milwaukee Tool on alleged forced labor in supply chain
By Katherine Masters
NEW YORK (Reuters) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers asked the Milwaukee Tool unit of Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries (OTC:TTNDY) to examine whether its products had links to forced labor, citing a recent media report that some were made by Chinese prisoners.
In a letter sent Tuesday and signed by Republican Representative Chris Smith and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, the lawmakers questioned Milwaukee Tool's oversight of its supply chain and whether it had independently investigated the claims, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.
Milwaukee Tool, which sells power equipment and home improvement gear, including work gloves, through retailers, is one of a handful of companies facing new scrutiny in Washington for manufacturing and sourcing consumer products in China.
According to reporting by the nonprofit news site Wisconsin Watch, Lee Ming-che, a political activist and former inmate now living in Taiwan, said he was forced to work 13 hours a day alongside other prisoners sewing polyester work gloves for Milwaukee Tool. Reuters couldn’t immediately reach Lee Ming-che for comment.
One of the company’s suppliers, Shanghai Select Safety Products, allegedly subcontracted work to a jail in China's Hunan province. Milwaukee Tool did not immediately respond to a request for comment but told Wisconsin Watch in May that the company “found no evidence to support the claims being made.”
Lawmakers have questioned multiple retailers over their sourcing amid heightened trade tensions with China. For instance, a separate bipartisan committee in May sent letters to Nike (NYSE:NKE), Adidas (OTC:ADDYY), Shein and Temu questioning the companies’ supply chains and whether they source from
Read more on investing.com
