CBP should recognize imports of goods under the $800 de minimis threshold as entries, as a way to help prevent low value goods made with forced labor from coming into the U.S., the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to DHS on implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. "By treating the commercial de minimis exemption instead as an entry of merchandise, the Government can continue to promote the administrative ease that section 321 affords legitimate gift and personal use shipments, while also ensuring goods imported under the commercial de minimis exemption are eligible and admissible and pose no threat to our country’s economy, safety, health, or security and particularly are free of forced labor," the trade group said.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely March 31, CBP said in a notice. The meeting will be the first for the newest COAC members. Comments are due in writing by March 28.
Though the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) designates polysilicon as a “high-priority enforcement sector,” the polysilicon produced in Xinjiang, and elsewhere in China, “currently does not meet the extremely high levels of purity required for semiconductor-grade polysilicon,” the Semiconductor Industry Association commented in docket DHS-2022-0001. The comments were in response to a DHS notice on how best to comply with UFLPA measures for preventing goods produced with forced labor in China from being imported into the U.S. CBP, under the direction of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), is scheduled to begin enforcing the statute’s “rebuttable presumption” measures June 21.
While the consumer tech industry “condemns the use of forced labor” and “unequivocally supports” the Biden administration’s efforts “to end this scourge around the world,” there are concerns with the timing of new requirements, the Consumer Technology Association commented in docket DHS-2022-0001. The comments were due March 10 in response to a January DHS notice on how best to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) by preventing goods produced with forced labor in China from being imported into the U.S.
The U.S. Fashion Industry Association said it is pleased that Uzbekistan has eliminated systemic forced labor from cotton production, and noted that the Cotton Campaign, a coalition of apparel companies, nonprofit organizations and Uzbek civil society activists announced March 10 that they no longer support a global boycott of Uzbek cotton. "We encourage brands and retailers to take a fresh look at sourcing opportunities in Uzbekistan and to work with the Cotton Campaign to maintain responsible sourcing and robust due diligence in Uzbekistan," USFIA said. "We also encourage the Government of Uzbekistan to make further progress in establishing the enabling environment for responsible sourcing -- including the registration of NGOs working to monitor cotton harvests -- in order to address remaining risks to labor and human rights and to assure brands that they can source from Uzbekistan with confidence."
Sheffield Hallam University professor of human rights and contemporary slavery Laura Murphy said CBP needs much more funding to enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, because she does not think companies will cut their ties immediately to China's Xinjiang province as a result of the new law. Murphy, who was interviewed by Hudson Institute senior fellow Nury Turkel on March 9, said she has not yet found a company with production in Xinjiang that can provide clear evidence that it does not employ Uyghur workers who were coerced into taking their jobs.
CBP should take an approach to implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act that is different than the current withhold release order regime, the American Association of Exporters and Importers said in comments to DHS. "The solution to forced labor does not lie with seizing goods at time of arrival," the trade group said. "Rather, it lies in timely information about suspected problem parties being shared at the time they are reliably identified."
CBP is working on some new guidance for the withhold release order aimed at silica-based products from Hoshine Silicon Industry in Xinjiang, China (see 2108030026), said Eric Choy, acting executive director of the Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate. Choy and other agency officials spoke on a March 4 webinar that was later posted to the Solar Energy Industries Association website. "We are working through our own administrative procedures here right now to make sure it meets the administrative requirements" to post on the agency's site, he said.
CBP has seized "four shipments of palm oil in Baltimore since February 11 due to information indicating that the palm oil was manufactured by forced labor," the agency said March 8. The shipments involved palmitic acid, which is palm oil refined into a powder, the agency said. Produced in Malaysia, the palmitic acid was "destined to a processing facility in Delaware. The combined weight of the four shipments of palmitic acid came to 544,176 pounds and had an appraised value of about $2,466,500." CBP issued a forced labor finding in January involving palm oil and palm oil products from Sime Darby Plantation in Malaysia (see 2201270036).
Multiple Amazon suppliers have ties to forced labor in China, the Tech Transparency Project said in a March 7 report. "Three Amazon suppliers are reported to have used forced labor directly: Luxshare Precision Industry, AcBel Polytech, and Lens Technology," the group said. "Another two, GoerTek and Hefei BOE Optoelectronics, are themselves supplied by factories that have been implicated in forced labor." Amazon also continues to sell third-party products that advertise the use of Xinjiang cotton despite a ban on such goods, it said.