Sandler Travis managing principal Nicole Bivens Collinson said that Sandler Travis is working with companies to develop comments to the federal government on how to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (see 2201210031) because a lot of companies don't want their names on their comments. "We are creating an ad hoc coalition because I know a lot of companies don't want to go on record," partly "because they may be a global operation that has operations in China," she said, while speaking on a recent webinar hosted by the firm. China prohibits companies from adhering to foreign laws that negatively impact the country.
The AFL-CIO said the House version of the China package "includes critically important fixes" to the Senate's trade title, including removing finished products from the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, changes to antidumping and countervailing duty law, and the change to de minimis, which "would halt China’s exploitation of US de minimis policy."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP issued a withhold release order on disposable gloves “produced in Malaysia by YTY Industry Holdings Sdn Bhd (YTY Group), including YTY Industry Sdn Bhd, Green Prospect Sdn Bhd, and GP Lumut," the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Jan. 28. “CBP is entering the new year with a renewed commitment to investigating and enforcing the U.S. prohibition against importing goods made with forced labor,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said. “We will again dedicate significant resources to rooting out the evil and inhumane practices of forced labor.” The WRO took effect Jan. 28. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also "designated the DHS Chief Procurement Officer as the Department’s Senior Accountable Official to prevent forced labor and other forms of human trafficking in all DHS contracts and acquisitions," DHS said.
Mandating a broad exclusion process for importers of goods subject to Section 301 tariffs, extending the period of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program renewal, reforming the GSP competitive needs limitations, a ban on importing sodium cyanide briquettes, and changes to the Lacey Act are all among hundreds of amendments to the America Competes Act that have been submitted to the Rules Committee, which has the responsibility for shaping the bill that will get a vote on the House floor (see 2201310033).
The 15% tariff on most solar panels and the 15% tariff on imported solar cells past a 2.5 gigawatt threshold are slated to expire Feb. 6, and, according to Reuters, the White House is considering accepting some of the International Trade Commission's recommendations on extending the solar panel and cell safeguard, and rejecting others. The ITC recommended reducing the current 15% rate by just .25% in 2022, and by another quarter point each year, until early 2026, when the safeguard would expire.
Imports of palm oil and palm oil products from Sime Darby Plantation in Malaysia may be seized by CBP starting Jan. 28 under a finding that the company uses forced labor, CBP said in a notice. "Through its investigation, CBP has determined that there is sufficient information to support a Finding that Sime Darby Plantation and its subsidiaries are using forced labor on Sime Darby’s plantations in Malaysia to harvest fresh fruit bunches, which are used to extract palm oil and produce derivative products, and that such palm oil and derivative products produced by the company are likely being imported" into the U.S., the agency said. CBP's finding follows a December 2020 withhold release order aimed at the company's palm oil (see 2012300007).
Imports of palm oil and palm oil products from the Sime Darby plantation in Malaysia may be seized by CBP starting Jan. 28 under a finding that the company uses forced labor, CBP said in a notice. "Through its investigation, CBP has determined that there is sufficient information to support a Finding that Sime Darby Plantation and its subsidiaries are using forced labor on Sime Darby’s plantations in Malaysia to harvest fresh fruit bunches, which are used to extract palm oil and produce derivative products, and that such palm oil and derivative products produced by the company are likely being imported" into the U.S., the agency said. CBP's finding follows a December 2020 withhold release order aimed at the company's palm oil.
The Biden administration's interagency task force to monitor and combat human trafficking had its first meeting this week, and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said they will launch "a thorough interagency review of our existing trade policies and tools used to combat forced labor, including forced child labor, to determine areas that may need strengthening and gaps that need to be filled."
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