The action targets Camel Group Co Ltd, a battery manufacturer, and Chenguang Biotech Group Co Ltd, a spice and extract manufacturer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement yesterday. The ban, it said, would be effective today.

The move aims to promote accountability for “the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the department said.

“We will continue to work with all of our partners to keep goods made with forced labour from Xinjiang out of US commerce while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade,” secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in the statement.

24 entities have been added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, DHS said.

“The so-called ‘forced labour’ in Xinjiang is a century-old lie concocted by anti-China forces to smear China,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement today.

China strongly condemns the ban and will take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of its companies, the ministry said, without giving details.