WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - German automaker BMW

imported at least 8,000 Mini Cooper vehicles into the

United States with electronic components from a banned Chinese

supplier, a U.S. Senate report released on Monday said.

A report by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden's

staff said BMW imported 8,000 Mini Coopers with parts from a

Chinese supplier banned under a 2021 law and that BMW continued

to import products with the banned parts until at least April.

BMW Group said in an email it had "taken steps to halt the

importation of affected products."

The company will be conducting a service action to replace

the specific parts, adding it "has strict standards and policies

regarding employment practices, human rights, and working

conditions, which all our direct suppliers must follow."

Congress in 2021 passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention

Act (UFLPA) law to strengthen enforcement of laws to prevent the

import of goods from China's Xinjiang region believed to have

been produced with forced labor by members of the country's

Uyghur minority group. China denies the allegations.

"Automakers' self-policing is clearly not doing the job,"

Wyden said, urging the Customs and Border Protection agency to

"take a number of specific steps to supercharge enforcement and

crack down on companies that fuel the shameful use of forced

labor in China." Customs and Border Protection did not

immediately comment.

The report found that Bourns Inc, a California-based auto

supplier, had sourced components from Sichuan Jingweida

Technology Group (JWD). That Chinese company was added to the

UFLPA Entity List in December, which means its products are

presumed to be made with forced labor.

Bourns provided JWD parts to Lear Corp ( LEA ), a direct

supplier for BMW and Jaguar Land Rover. Bourns notified Lear in

January that electronic components known as LAN transformers had

been produced by JWD and were prohibited in U.S. imported

vehicles.

On Jan. 11, Lear sent letters to BMW, Jaguar Land Rover,

Volvo and Volkswagen AG informing them of

the banned components, the report said. Lear confirmed it

promptly notified customers "of products containing these

components and worked with our supplier to expeditiously

re-source the manufacture of these components to another

sub-supplier."

JAGUAR LAND ROVER IMPORTS

The report said Jaguar Land Rover imported spare parts with

JWD components after December, adding that the automaker

quarantined all existing inventory containing the JWD component

globally for destruction. Jaguar Land Rover said as soon as it

learned of the issue it "immediately stopped all shipments of

the two affected aftermarket service parts."

The company added it "takes human rights and forced labor

issues seriously and has an active ongoing program of human

rights protection and anti-slavery measures."

The report said BMW "appears to have stopped (imports) only

after the committee repeatedly asked detailed questions to Lear

and Lear's OEM customers, including BMW, about their

relationship with JWD."

Lear said it takes the issues raised seriously and shares

"the committee's desire to combat forced labor," and noted it

does not have a direct relationship with JWD.

In February, Volkswagen confirmed that several thousand

Porsche, Bentleys and Audi vehicles were held at U.S. ports

because a Chinese subcomponent breached anti-forced labor laws.

The Senate report said the Volkswagen vehicles contained the

JWD electronic parts and that the automaker voluntarily

disclosed the issue to Customs and Border Protection.

VW said on Monday it has since replaced the parts in all

vehicles held at U.S. ports and "takes allegations of human

rights violations very seriously and is committed to preventing

the use of forced labor in our supply chain."

Volvo Cars received LAN transformers for a new car program

not yet in production and did not use any in its vehicles, the

report added.