The United States on Wednesday banned imports from three Chinese genomics companies, adding BGI Genomics Co. Ltd, MGI Tech Co Ltd and Shenzhen BGI Technology Co Ltd, which the US says is also known as the BGI Group, to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. The Department of Homeland Security said BGI Group and BGI Genomics conduct genetic testing in Xinjiang working with the government in ways that facilitate the recruitment, transport, transfer or receiving of forced labor, and that MGI Tech provides equipment and related support for that testing. With the additions, 190 entities are now on the list, and Customs and Border Protection is instructed to stop the listed companies’ goods unless exporters can rebut the presumption that they were made with forced labor.
MGI Tech, based in Shenzhen, rejected the allegations, said they are inconsistent with the facts, and said it has zero tolerance for forced labor in any form, adding that its US business is a limited part of its overall business. BGI Group said it has not engaged in any form of forced labor, that its US business is a very limited part of the group and is not expected to have a material impact on operations; BGI Genomics did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Beijing has denied allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang. The ban lands during a fragile US-China trade truce, in a sector where China banned imports of sequencing equipment from the US company Illumina in March 2025 and later said it would lift that ban while keeping Illumina on its Unreliable Entities List.