Watchdog calls for US import ban as forced labor persists in Dominican sugarcane fields

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A human rights group says that forced labor persists on massive sugarcane plantations across the Dominican Republic. The U.S. is its largest market for sugar and other products. The nonprofit Corporate Accountability Lab said in a report published Tuesday that it spent more than three years investigating working conditions on plantations owned by Central Romana Corporation, Ltd. It is the largest employer and landowner in the Dominican Republic, and its owners have ties to U.S. President Donald Trump. The human rights group called on the U.S. to reinstate a 2022 ban on imports of sugar and related products made by the company that was reversed last year.