The Department of Labor's annual report on forced labor and child labor describes a global problem, from garments in Bangladesh, Brazil, Vietnam and Malaysia to tea and thread in India to gold from Venezuela, in addition to the sectors already associated with withhold release orders.
The Coalition for a Prosperous America announced that it had asked CBP to investigate Chinese distribution company Shein for violating the prohibition on the import of goods made with forced labor.
Between increased enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and a proposed EU bill banning the sale of goods made with forced labor, Wiley lawyers predict supply chains will shift away from China and other forced labor hot spots.
CBP has been “strongly enforcing” the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act “right out of the gate” since it took effect in June, having already targeted 1,452 entries valued at $429 million under the new law, said Robert Silvers, Homeland Security undersecretary-strategy, policy and plans, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Sept. 27.
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Personal protective equipment manufacturer defendants, led by Smart Glove Holdings, failed to disclose they were under investigation by CBP for using forced labor, leading to over $68.5 million in damages to protective equipment supplier Airboss Defense Group (ADG), ADG said in a Sept. 19 complaint. Filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, ADG claimed that had it known about this investigation, it would not have agreed to source its gloves from Smart Glove and would have avoided the millions in charges, logistics costs and storage fees it incurred due to the imports being detained under a withhold release order (Airboss Defense Group v. Smart Glove Holdings, C.D. Calif. #2:22-06727).
CBP “targeted” 838 entries valued at over $266.5 million in August for suspected use of forced labor in the production of imported goods, the agency said in its monthly operational update, released Sept. 19. The agency did not specify what proportion of that were goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act as opposed to withhold release orders. Statistics on forced labor imports were not included in CBP’s July update.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said a recent Labor Department report about Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) labor compliance in the Dominican Republican's sugar industry confirmed their conclusions when they visited sugar cane farms in July, that the workers live in substandard conditions and that there is a "culture of fear" in the industry.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the driving force in the Senate behind the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), is aware that Xinjiang goods -- even those labeled as coming from the state-owned Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which is on the banned entity list -- are entering U.S. commerce.
CBP modified its withhold release order on Natchi Apparel garments, it said, As a result, the company's imports will be allowed to enter the U.S. "This modification takes place a month after CBP issued the WRO on July 29, 2022, representing swift and successful collaboration between civil society and worker rights organizations, Natchi Apparel (P) Ltd. and its parent company Eastman Exports, and CBP," the agency said. "This collaboration plays a critical role in ensuring that imports entering the United States are free of forced labor and meet the humane and ethical standards required by U.S. customs and trade laws. It improves American economic security while upholding human rights for workers." Shipments that have previously been detained will also be released, CBP said.