“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 US,” said Uniqlo in a statement, referring to products the US agency says it strongly suspects were manufactured using cotton supplied by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

A representative of Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing told Nikkei that “there is no direct deal with XPCC”.

“We demonstrated that there is no evidence of forced labour in our supply chain, and that there should be no problem with importing these products into the US,” Uniqlo argued, adding that it has provided information on the country of origin of raw materials used in its products and production processes.

“The documentation covering the nature and origin of the cotton was accepted by customs authorities,” continued the statement.

“However, while the CBP has previously given clearance to other goods manufactured through the same processes, the CBP did not give clearance this time,” Uniqlo added, referring to the US customs agency.