Ivanka Trump’s brand distances itself from China shoemaker

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SHANGHAI (AP) – Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand is seeking to distance itself from a Chinese manufacturer that has come under scrutiny after activists investigating labor conditions there were detained.

The brand’s president, Abigail Klem, said in a statement released Wednesday that the Huajian Group factory where labor abuses are alleged has not produced Ivanka Trump shoes since March. She says the brand’s licensing partner Mark Fisher works with many factories, and all are required to operate under strict rules.

The executive director of the New York-based nonprofit China Labor Watch says it began scrutinizing Ivanka Trump supply chains more than a year ago. He says three investigators went into Huajian factories posing as workers this spring and found Ivanka Trump merchandise inside. Now all three men are in jail.

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AP-WF-06-08-17 1328GMT