Attributable to Erik Olson, Executive Director of the Rail Security Alliance
“The Trump Administration and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) are to be commended for holding Chinese state-owned and controlled CRRC accountable to ethical and honest trade and manufacturing practices whenever they seek to operate in the United States. In 2020, RSA called on CBP for such an investigation into CRRC.
CRRC’s use of forced Uyghur and child labor for train shells and railcar components has been widely reported going back years. This is an obvious violation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which prohibits the import of products and materials that may have been manufactured by forced or slave labor.
We are grateful for CBP’s attention to CRRC train shells and components and the materials within the full supply chain, ‘requiring full traceability of certain raw materials—down to the level of ore extraction and smelting.’
CRRC’s use of mica extracted from African mines and its reliance on an ‘army‘ of children has been called “one of the worst forms of child labor” in the world, exploiting an estimated 86,000 children or more.
CRRC’s exploitation of Uyghur forced labor is also well-documented. A 2020 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute shed light on the transfer of at least 80,000 Uyghurs from Xinjiang to work in other Chinese factories. The same report named CRRC as a manufacturer in the supply chain that uses Uyghur labor. In 2025, collaborative reporting by The New York Times and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism confirmed it.
Throughout it all, CRRC has continued to reap billions of dollars in passenger train contracts — unchecked — from Boston to Los Angeles. Again, we applaud the integrity of CBP to ensure importers into the U.S. abide by our laws. Given CRRC’s known track records, withholding CRRC imports tainted by forced or child labor is the only right thing to do.”
