Brazilian prosecutors sue China's BYD over allegations of slave-like labour conditions
Brazilian prosecutors said on Tuesday (May 27, 2025) 'they are suing Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD Auto and two of its contractors over allegations of using workers in slave-like labour conditions and engaging in international human trafficking.'
The labour prosecutors' office in Bahia state said in a statement that 'they are seeking 257 million Brazilian reais ($50 million) in damages from BYD, China JinJiang Construction Brazil and Tecmonta Equipamentos Inteligentes.'
The lawsuit stems from an investigation that led to the rescue last year of 220 Chinese workers from the construction site of BYD's new factory in the city of Camacari. Prosecutors said 'the workers were brought to Brazil under false pretenses and with visas that did not match their jobs.'
'Working conditions were extremely degrading. Five settlements were kept by BYD, JinJiang and Tecmonta. Some workers slept on beds without mattresses and had their personal belongings alongside with their food,' the prosecutors' office said.
'There were few bathrooms, which were not gender-assigned. In one of the settlements, there was one toilet for 31 people, forcing workers to wake up at 4 a.m. for their personal hygiene before their work.'
BYD said in a statement it is collaborating with the investigations from the start and will speak about the case during the course of the probe. It also said it respects Brazil's laws and international labour regulations.
In December, a spokesperson for the Chinese automaker objected to reports about poor conditions at the construction site in Brazil, saying the allegations were aimed at 'smearing' China and Chinese brands.
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Rather, they are paid by others, usually the importer, to help navigate the customs process by submitting documents and fielding enquiries from border officials, according to Lenny Feldman, a managing partner at the law firm Sandler, Travis & brokers may be breaking the law if they are found to have not conducted proper due diligence, said briefly to Reuters at his office in April, Kim said his firm did not deal with vape shipments anymore after exiting the business last said that a former employee of his firm had gotten him into working with vape clients and took those customers with her when she the FDA data reviewed by Reuters showed that vape-related shipments handled by Kim have continued throughout 2025, including in June. The FDA, which was directed to fire 3,500 employees in March, works with CBP to catch unauthorized vape shipments at the border.A spokesperson for CBP told Reuters the agency seized over 3 million units of illegal vapes valued at $76 million in 2024. 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The largest in 2024 was Reynolds American, the U.S. subsidiary of the top ten largest U.S. vape recipients also included six obscure firms, opened in 2023 or 2024 and sometimes operating out of residential second-largest recipient of vape shipments in 2024 was a Chicago-based company called Somo Trade LLC , established in 2023, Reuters analysis of FDA data and state business filings show.A woman at the business' address, a residential home on Chicago's north side, told a Reuters reporter that the property was not involved in the vape recipient of vapes, Rongda Trade, is registered to a house on the same street as Somo Trade , opened the same month, and has already been shut down, its filings show. No one answered the door when Reuters visited the one answered at a residential address linked to Lila Trade on Chicago's southwest side, either. The name of the registered agent, Xiaohong Dai, was not among those listed on four mailboxes out could not find websites for any of the firms, and their state business filings did not contain any contact in February, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued 13 different companies which she said were major U.S. vape distributors, accusing them of working closely with Chinese manufacturers to fuel the unauthorized vape industry."Together, Defendants have established an industry for flavored e-cigarettes, particularly disposable vapes, and staked out their own lucrative shares in the soaring market," the complaint states. "All have engaged in reprehensible, illegal conduct and aim to addict youth to their products."Mitch Zeller, former head of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, placed the blame on U.S.-based distributors, such as those named in James' lawsuit, for feeding demand."There's only a handful of middlemen, middle companies, that are responsible for taking the illegal, imported stuff being misclassified and mislabeled and getting it into interstate commerce," he said.
