The Children’s Place, thelargest childrenswear retailer in the US has cancelled millions of dollars worth of clothing orders from suppliers in Ethiopia because of the coronavirus pandemic, pushing companies into debt and leaving employees facing pay cuts.

The Children’s Place (TCP), which has more than 1,000 stores in the US and 90 around the world and had a turnover of $2billion last year, cancelled orders from Ethiopia in March and delayed payments by six months for orders completed in January and Februaryn.

Ethiopian workers are the lowest paid in the global garment supply chain. According to reports by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, the minimum wage for Ethiopian garment workers is $26 a month, compared with $95 in Bangladesh and $326 in China.

Ethiopian suppliers claim that TCP has demanded retroactive rebates on products that had been shipped before the crisis. They said the company cited the force majeure clause, which frees companies from contractual obligations in the case of certain extreme events, in its contracts as a reason not to pay, due to COVID-19.