Uniqlo says 'no direct deal' with entity in China's Xinjiang area

TOKYO -- Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo said on Tuesday it has "no direct deal" with a company in China's Xinjiang region suspected of using forced labor, after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently banned the import of cotton shirts from the Japanese brand.

"We confirm that certain cotton shirt products, which were manufactured in China using raw cotton from outside China, were blocked from being imported into the United States," said Uniqlo in a statement, referring to products the U.S. agency says it strongly suspects were manufactured using cotton supplied by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).