The 11 withhold release orders currently in place that involve companies or products from the Xinjiang region in China will become subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act as of June 21, said Elva Muneton, CBP acting executive director for the UFLPA Implementation Task Force, while speaking to a Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association webinar June 2. That means goods subject to those WROs that are detained by CBP as of June 21 will require clear and convincing evidence that forced labor wasn't involved to be allowed to enter the U.S, she said. Before June 21, those detained goods would continue through the WRO process, Muneton said.
Despite industry requests for delayed enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act to allow for a review of CBP's coming guidance around the new law (see 2203110059), the agency seems set for full implementation starting June 21, said Elva Muneton, CBP acting executive director for the UFLPA Implementation Task Force. "The expectation is that we will be ready to implement the Uyghur Act on June 21 and that we have the resources and that we're going to take the approach of addressing any shipments coming from that region," she said. "So the question is, are we ready to implement? Yes, we are. June 21." Muneton and others spoke June 1 during the first of three CBP webinars about the UFLPA (see 2205250021).
Just three weeks before the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will go into effect, many important questions remain unanswered, said Richard Mojica, a former CBP headquarters attorney now with Miller & Chevalier.
A group of lawmakers is calling the outcry around the anticircumvention case on solar panels made in Southeast Asia "an attempt to undermine the integrity of our trade enforcement laws and the independence of our federal workforce."
The CBP Office of Trade Relations plans to host webinars on three dates in June to give an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the agency said on its UFLPA site. The webinars are scheduled for June 1, 10-11 a.m. EDT; June 7, 1-2 p.m. EDT; and June 16, 2-3 p.m. EDT.
Data analysis nonprofit C4ADS highlighted nine products that are "produced in disproportionately high volumes in Xinjiang that are part of global supply chains," in a new report released May 19. The report examines China's Xinjiang region's role in manufacturing those products: cotton, tomato products, pepper products, walnuts, rayon, calcium carbide, polysilicon, wind turbines, and beryllium. "These goods should be a focal point of international stakeholders’ response to the crisis in the region: if these goods are found to be produced by forced labor, or otherwise support oppression in Xinjiang, removing them from global supply chains can help end international support for these crimes," the report said.
The four leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a Democrat and a Republican from each chamber, are asking appropriators to fully fund the CBP request of $70.3 million to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, for more employees, technology and training.
CBP recently posted an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and forced labor withhold release order enforcement mechanisms. The table provides citations of the legal basis behind detention, appeal, evidentiary level and authorization under the UFLPA and WRO processes.
A few days after the majority of senators said they want Taiwan to be included in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (see 2205180034), U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai issued a readout of a May 20 meeting with a top Taiwanese official that made no mention of IPEF. Tai said she met with Taiwan’s Minister-Without-Portfolio John Deng, and said that they discussed "opportunities to deepen the economic relationship, advance mutual trade priorities based on shared values, and promote innovation and inclusive economic growth for their workers and businesses." It said they also discussed how Taiwan and the U.S. both want to fight forced labor, and how important supply chain traceability is.
Sidley Austin Partner Ted Murphy noted in his blog that while it is not easy to document that imports do not contain Xinjiang content, "we believe that it will be easier (and quicker) for most companies to demonstrate that articles do not contain Xinjiang content (or production by yet-to-be listed entities), than it will be to rebut the presumption of forced labor (which is likely to be a long-drawn out process)."