(NewsNation) — Attorneys general from 16 states have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to independently verify that Shein, the Chinese-founded fast-fashion retailer, doesn’t use forced labor.
While Shein has moved its headquarters to Singapore, it manufactures most of its products in China.
“Shein’s growth has been built on nefarious business practices,” the attorneys general wrote in a letter reported on by Bloomberg.
The attorneys general asked, in their letter to the SEC, that the commission require that “any foreign-owned company certify via a truly independent process that it is compliant with Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which prohibits the import of any product manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor.”
Reuters reports that two dozen U.S. representatives sent a similar letter to the SEC, asking it to stop a potential Shein IPO until the company confirmed it does not use forced labor.
One of the attorneys general calling on the SEC to verify Shein, Arkansas’ Tim Griffin, told NewsNation that “credible” news organizations and third-party groups have done investigations into Shein showing it sold products made with forced labor.
“Now they want to do business, benefit from the United States, our markets … our exchanges,” Griffin said. “There’s no right to do business on a U.S. exchange.”
A Shein spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters that it has “zero tolerance” for forced labor.
“We will continue to engage with U.S. federal and state officials to answer their questions,” the spokesperson said.
To Griffin, that’s not a satisfactory answer.
“Shein has basically said, ‘Hey, we looked at ourselves, and we’re good, don’t worry about it,'” Griffin said. “Well, we wouldn’t take any company’s word that said that much less a Chinese company such as this, where there are reasons to doubt its veracity.”
“Really all we’re asking is that the SEC verify with an independent investigation” that the United States’ laws are being followed, Griffin added.
“It’s a pretty basic request here,” he said.
