Cranes load containers onto ships at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, US, on March 6, 2025. Photo:VCG

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently added 43 Chinese companies to its "Entity List" under the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" (UFLPA), with the move taking effect on Monday. The targeted companies include firms from industries such as snacks and dumplings, prompting Chinese netizens and experts to question the rationale behind the politically motivated move.

The listing reflects Washington's abuse of unilateral measures to suppress competitive Chinese products and exposes its anxiety over China's manufacturing strength, a Chinese expert said, noting that the move could potentially lead to higher prices for US consumers.

According to the DHS, the 43 new entities include companies in high-priority sectors for enforcement, including aluminum, apparel, copper, cotton, as well as tomatoes and downstream products. 

This move marks the largest single addition to the list since the act took effect in 2021, bringing the total number of entities on the list to 187. 

Among them, there are Zhengzhou Synear Food Co., Ltd (Zhengzhou Synear), a food company in Central China's Henan Province that manufactures and distributes frozen food products including dumplings, steamed buns, rice balls, wontons, and snack foods.

"Why Synear? Don't they like sweet stuff?" one netizen asked, saying that the products could simply stop being sold there, as "good things should be kept for our own enjoyment."

Another food company on the list is Chacha Food Company, based in East China's Anhui Province. The company mainly produces popular snack products such as nuts and roasted seeds, with its products exported to nearly 50 countries and regions across Southeast Asia, Europe, the US and other markets.

The move has also drawn laughter from Chinese netizens, with one user named Momo asking, "Have some people in the US ever choked on sunflower seeds?" A netizen dubbed Martini said the move showed that "the US has run out of cards to play." Another user speculated that the list may have simply been generated by US officials using an AI tool to save time.

Instead of enhancing its own industrial competitiveness to participate in fair competition, the US has repeatedly used so-called "forced labor" issues as a pretext to impose trade restrictions, reflecting a tendency to politicize economic and trade matters, Hu Qimu, a professor at the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University, told the Global Times on Monday.

In recent years, the US has continued to raise barriers to market access. These measures could ultimately increase global trade costs and harm the interests of all parties, including US companies and consumers, Hu warned, suggesting that they could potentially lead to more expensive dumplings on American consumers' dining tables.

According to a report released by Global Market Statistics, North America accounts for around 21 percent of the global frozen dumpling market. Driven by the growing popularity of Asian cuisine and convenient frozen foods, the US accounts for nearly 82 percent of consumption in the region. More than 92 percent of US households own freezers, creating favorable conditions for the adoption of frozen food products, according to the report.

Among the leading suppliers, Zhengzhou Synear holds around 11 percent of the global market share, supported by more than 20 manufacturing facilities, annual production capacity exceeding 700,000 tons, and extensive retail penetration across the Asia-Pacific region, said the report.

A spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce on Saturday strongly condemned and firmly opposed the US decision to add more than 40 Chinese entities to the so-called UFLPA Entity List, saying the move is completely groundless. The US has continued to impose unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies under its domestic law under the pretext of so-called "human rights" and "forced labor," which constitutes typical acts of economic coercion, according to the spokesperson.

Global Times