A delegation from Giant met with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Washington, DC for a meeting to discuss the company’s labour practices, following allegations of forced labour and the barring of certain Giant goods from the USA, the bike brand revealed today.
Giant said there was a "positive and constructive” atmosphere, where the delegation team and CBP engaged in “extensive discussions on the company’s current status and ongoing improvement actions”.
The meeting follows the issuance of a Withhold Release Order in September that barred the import of Giant bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories made in Taiwan, following an investigation that found evidence of forced labour.
Following the embargo, Giant said it is “firmly committed to upholding human rights and labor protections”. On 29 September, it formally engaged with the CBP through its US legal counsel to arrange the official meeting.
Giant said in a statement released today that: “CBP acknowledged Giant Group's proactive attitude and actions following the issuance of the Withhold Release Order (WRO), as well as the company's immediate engagement in constructive communication and meeting with CBP. CBP also recognized the company's incorporation of labor rights into its corporate sustainability governance goals and active implementation.”
Giant added that the CBP emphasised that it was “penalising Giant” but that it “aims to promote corporate improvement in labor and human rights governance through collaboration with enterprises”.
One of the forced labour indicators the CBP claims to have identified was debt bondage, where a person is forced to work to pay off a debt.
Last year, investigative journalist Peter Bengtsen found migrant employees at Giant had paid high recruitment fees. “[W]orkers borrow significantly from banks and money lenders, often at excessive interest rates, and thereby risk debt bondage while working in Taiwan to pay off loans,” Bengtsen told BikeRadar.
Giant says it has implemented a zero recruitment fee policy since the start of 2025, and in October, it said it would reimburse migrant workers hired before 2025. The company also revealed it was moving migrant workers into new dormitories and that it had hired an international third-party advisor “to identify, assess, and develop a comprehensive compensation plan to reimburse current migrant workers hired before January 1, 2025, for their previous recruitment expenses”.
Giant said in the statement released today that this audit “is an important component of CBP’s relevant procedures”.
The CBP did not immediately respond to BikeRadar’s request for comment on the meeting or its procedures.
The CBP’s Withhold Release Order, which is the first of its kind on a Taiwanese manufacturer, sent shockwaves through the Taiwanese bicycle industry.
Although the embargo applied only to Giant products made in Taiwan, Merida quickly implemented several measures to improve its labor practices and announced it would implement a zero-fee recruitment policy from 1 October.
The Taiwan Bicycle Association also announced an initiative for industry suppliers to observe human rights.
“To meet growing global expectations for Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) and sustainable supply chain governance, the Taiwan Bicycle Association (TBA) has announced an industry initiative encouraging suppliers across the value chain to undertake supply chain due diligence, with a particular focus on human rights and forced labor,” the trade association said in October.
