The Senate Appropriations Committee issued its proposal for funding the Department of Homeland Security, asserting its bill could get the bipartisan support needed to pass that chamber. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has previously said he would prefer to delay spending decisions until next year, when the House, Senate and White House will have Republican majorities. However, some observers believe Republicans would be better served by passing during the lame-duck session appropriations for the fiscal year that goes through September, freeing up Congress to spend its time in 2025 on the massive tax bill and other policy Trump administration priorities (see 2411120026).
NEW YORK -- Brian Hoxie, director of CBP's Forced Labor Division, told an apparel industry conference audience this week that DHS has been hearing their pleas for more transparency in forced labor enforcement.
NEW YORK -- Tyler Beckelman, a Commerce deputy assistant secretary who also sits on the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, told a garment industry audience that the Biden administration still intends to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on de minimis "before we all turn into pumpkins on Jan. 20."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, arguing that CBP is not enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act he co-authored, as pharmaceuticals made in Xinjiang are entering the U.S.
CBP has issued a withhold release order, effective immediately, against frankincense supplier Asli Maydi of Somaliland over the alleged use of forced labor, the agency said Nov. 1.
DHS has updated its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List to include textile companies that allegedly use forced labor or source material from the Xinjiang autonomous region in China, and it removed one entity from one category of alleged violations and placed it in another category, according to a Federal Register notice.
DHS is adding more companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to a notice released Oct. 31. Esquel Group, also known as Esquel China Holdings Limited; Guangdong Esquel Textile; and Turpan Esquel Textile are being added for sourcing material from Xinjiang or from persons working with the government of Xinjiang or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for purposes of China's ‘‘poverty alleviation’’ program or ‘‘pairing-assistance’’ program, among other Chinese government labor schemes. The notice also appears to change the reason an already listed company, Changji Esquel Textile, is on the list, removing the company from one of the four lists that make up the broader UFLPA Entity List but adding it to another. The changes take effect Nov. 1.
Executives from FloraTrace, an isotopic testing service, and Rezylient, an UFLPA insurance product, told an audience of customs brokers that isotopic testing isn't just for cotton-containing products.
Four Democratic senators are asking the Treasury Department to end de minimis treatment for all e-commerce shipments, arguing that the regulations under development to restrict de minimis would not go far enough to curtail fentanyl smuggling.