The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Dec. 16-22 and 23-29:
Forced Labor
CBP is the primary U.S. agency tasked with combating forced labor in international trade. It is the only agency with legal authority to take enforcement action and prevent entry into domestic commerce of goods produced with forced labor. CBP combats forced labor by issuing Withhold Release Orders (WROs) and Findings, and enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Goods subject to WROs and Findings, UFLPA, and CAATSA status cannot be entered at any ports of the U.S.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance again requested that Chinese company Rongcheng Sanyue Foodstuff Co., Ltd., be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s Entity List, in a letter sent Dec. 30 to DHS' Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force.
As customs brokers seek to employ artificial intelligence, expect government regulators to observe but not necessarily hand down heavy-handed guidance on using AI tools to conduct customs business, according to trade and AI experts International Trade Today interviewed.
Aluminum extrusions exporter Kingtom Aluminio, which operates out of the Dominican Republic, brought a complaint to the Court of International Trade on Dec. 23 to challenge CBP’s finding that the exporter had used forced labor (Kingtom Aluminio v. U.S., CIT # 24-00264).
The Canada Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) terminated its review of human rights complaints against Canadian Tire and Mark’s Work Wearhouse, the agency announced on Dec. 23. The agency found that determining a "right to a living wage" was beyond its jurisdictional boundary and therefore "closed the complaint without any recommendation for follow-up by the company."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opened an investigation into Chinese manufacturing of legacy (or foundational) semiconductors, "including to the extent that they are incorporated as components into downstream products for critical industries like defense, automotive, medical devices, aerospace, telecommunications, and power generation and the electrical grid."
CBP has released its Dec. 18 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No 50). It contains no ruling actions but includes a notice of finding that aluminum extrusions and profile products and derivatives produced or manufactured by Kingtom Aluminio with the use of convict, forced or indentured labor are being, or are likely to be, imported into the U.S. (see 2412030006). Two Court of International Trade slip opinions also are included.
CBP processed more than 2.8 million entry summaries valued at more than $283 billion in November, with duties estimated at nearly $6.97 billion, the agency said Dec. 19 in a monthly update.
The Canadian government intends to create a new framework for eradicating forced labor from supply chains, its minister of export promotion, international trade and economic development, Mary Ng, said in a Dec. 18 response statement. The proposed legislation would require government entities and businesses "to scrutinize their international supply chains for risks to fundamental labour rights and take action to resolve these risks," and, "a new oversight agency will be created to ensure ongoing compliance."