The sanctions were put in place over China’s alleged genocide and human rights abuses primarily against the Uyghurs in the western Xinjiang region.

Products made from alleged forced labor include raw cotton, tomato products, gloves, fishing gear, silicon and solar energy components, the U.S. said.

The new ban on imported goods “indicates that the U.S. has no scruples about smearing China by every means,” Wang Wenbin said.

Independent investigations have discovered Uyghurs and other Chinese Muslims being held in detention camps to work in factories to produce a variety of goods. Investigations also discovered forced sterilization of the Uyghurs.

China says the claims are the “lie of the century.”

Darren Byler, an assistant professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University in Canada, said an estimated 900,000 to 1.5 million Uygurs and other Chinese Muslims have gone through the detention camps to work in the factories.

China initially denied the camp’s existence but later said the camps were “voluntary centers for job training and de-radicalization.”

China said all of the “students” from the job training centers have graduated.

Workers considered troublesome may be given prison terms, sometimes in camps converted into penitentiaries, Byler said. After they leave, they are kept in line through constant surveillance and the threat of being sent back to the camps, Byler said.

Muslims sent to work in other parts of China are given no choice, are separated from their families and are accompanied by a Xinjiang Communist Party official and police officer, Byler said. Their activities are highly circumscribed and they are not allowed to practice Islam.

“They’re living in really unfree conditions,” Byler said.

“The relevant actions seriously undermine the principles of market economy and international economic and trade rules, and seriously damage the interests of Chinese institutions and enterprises,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing about the U.S. barring imported goods from the Xinjiang region.

“China strongly deplores and rejects that and urges the U.S. to immediately correct its mistake. China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese institutions and enterprises,” Wang said without elaborating.

President Joe Biden is expected to sign the law after overcoming initial hesitation from the White House and what supporters said was opposition from corporations. He also announced new sanctions Thursday that target several Chinese biotech and surveillance companies, a leading drone manufacturer and government entities for their actions in Xinjiang.

The Commerce Department announced new penalties targeting China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 research institutes that focus on using biotechnology to support the Chinese military.

The move bars American companies from selling goods and technologies to the entities without a license.

Separately, the Treasury Department announced it was placing DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer, and seven other Chinese companies on an investment blacklist over their alleged involvement in biometric surveillance and tracking of Uyghurs.

The measure means Americans will be prohibited from buying or selling publicly traded securities connected with the companies.

DJI dominates the global market for small, low-altitude drones used by hobbyists, photographers and many businesses and governments.

The White House announced last week it would stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing China’s “egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang.” U.S. athletes will compete but Biden will not send the usual contingent of dignitaries.

China vowed “resolute countermeasures” over the boycott, but has given no indication of how it plans to respond.

Rights groups note that prison labor has long been a part of the U.S. economy, with inmates producing goods and providing services such as call centers for what is typically reduced pay. Opponents say the system disproportionately profits off the labor of incarcerated Black Americans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.