October 16, 2025 - Giant Group has announced that in addition to the implementation of a “Zero Recruitment Fee Policy” for all newly recruited foreign migrant workers effective January 1, 2025 – which includes recruitment fees, service charges, and related government costs – the company is developing a comprehensive compensation plan to reimburse migrant workers hired before January 1, 2025.
The announcement follows a Withhold Release Order (WRO) issued on Sept. 24 by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pertaining to bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories made by Giant Group’s Taiwan manufacturing site, “based on information that reasonably indicates forced labour use.” Giant Group’s brands include Giant, Liv, Momentum, Cadex and Stages.
The CBP’s order resulted in part from an investigative article by Danish journalist, Peter Bengtsen, published in Le Monde Diplomatique last February noting that migrant workers had paid recruiters in their home countries up $5,500 US and in some cases $6,500 US to secure work at Taiwanese factories including Giant.
Bengsten conducted over 200 interviews with migrants employed by Taiwanese manufacturers and many had mortgaged their family home, or a small plot of land, to obtain bank loans. Other companies mentioned in the report include Merida, Maxxis, Fritz Jou etc. that are suppliers to many of the biggest names in cycling including Specialized, Trek, Scott, Bianchi, Canyon, Pinarello and more.
According to CBP, it identified the following International Labour Organization forced labour indicators during its investigation of Giant:
- abuse of vulnerability,
- abusive working and living conditions,
- debt bondage,
- withholding of wages, and
- excessive overtime.
“Giant profited by imposing such abuse, resulting in goods produced below market value and undercutting American businesses by millions of dollars in unjustly earned profits. The International Labour Organization estimates that nearly 28 million workers are under conditions of forced labor worldwide,” reads the CBP’s Withhold Release Order.
Living conditions for migrant workers are also an issue and Giant’s recent announcement includes, “the relocation of all migrant worker dormitories, with a total of 400 more workers moving into two newly built facilities. The new dormitories were designed and upgraded in line with international labour and human rights standards, providing a safe, healthy, and respectful living environment that meets fire protection, construction, and public safety requirements.”
Giant has formally engaged with CBP through its U.S. legal counsel and is attempting to revoke the WRO, claiming that its expanded policy is part of the company’s long-term Migrant Worker Rights Enhancement Program that it has been steadily advancing since 2024 “in accordance with international human rights standards.”
Read the latest announcement here, and more on Giant’s WRP response here.
