The final forms of two bills addressing American commercial involvement with Uighur forced labor will be considered for votes this week, but the rewrites by the Rules Committee soften the impact on businesses, particularly in apparel and shoes. The Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act now also has the disclosure bill incorporated into the language.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Oct. 7, remotely, beginning at 1 p.m. EDT, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by Oct. 6. The COAC will hear from the following subcommittees on the topics listed below and then will review, deliberate and formulate recommendations on how to proceed on those topics:
The four companies and a “training center” in the Xinjiang region of China that are now subject to withhold release orders (see 2009140017) were involved in imports of more than $200 million worth of goods in fiscal year 2019, a CBP spokesman said Sept. 17. “Although there are some shipments currently in transit, we expect to see further trade with these entities significantly reduced as importers shift supply chains to other sources,” the spokesman said. CBP is considering issuing a broader WRO for the region over forced labor concerns.
Worker rights advocates, from non-governmental organizations and the AFL-CIO, say that the company-by-company withhold release orders on goods from Xinjiang are not enough to prevent goods made with forced labor from entering the U.S., while the head of a major apparel trade group said targeted enforcement is the only way to follow the evidence. They were all witnesses at a House Ways and Means Committee Trade Subcommittee hearing on enforcing the ban on the importation of goods made with forced labor from the Xinjiang region in China.
Four companies and a “training center” in the Xinjiang region of China will be subject to withhold release orders, CBP said Sept. 14. Despite some expectations otherwise (see 2009090053), the new WROs don't apply to Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which would have amounted to a more “regional” approach by the agency. CBP is still looking at broader restrictions on cotton, textile and tomato products from the region under a WRO, but is undertaking further “legal analysis” on the issue, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kenneth Cuccinelli said during a call with reporters.
Four companies and an “training center” in the Xinjiang region of China will be subject to withhold release orders, CBP said Sept. 14. Despite some expectations otherwise, the new WROs don't apply to Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which would have amounted to a more “regional” approach by the agency. CBP is still looking at broader restrictions on cotton, textile and tomato products from the region under a WRO, but is undertaking further “legal analysis” on the issue, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kenneth Cuccinelli said during a call with reporters.
The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee will hold a hearing via videoconference at noon on Sept. 17 on “Enforcing the Ban on Imports Produced by Forced Labor in Xinjiang.” An announcement from the administration on the topic is reported to be coming (see 2009090053).
The flurry of forced labor investigations and withhold release orders from CBP in recent years is starting to have an impact in countries with reported violations, in particular in Malaysia, Sarah Bessell, deputy director of Washington, D.C.-based The Human Trafficking Legal Center, said during an online panel discussion at CBP’s Virtual Trade Week on Sept. 9.
CBP is seeing an uptick in companies pulling out of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, Manuel Garza, CBP director of CTPAT in the Office of Field Operations, said. “Because of COVID, we have seen an increase in the number of companies that have withdrawn from the program,” he said. The program still has about 11,400 total members and 315 trade compliance members, he said while speaking at a CBP Virtual Trade Week session Sept. 9. Some 53.4% of U.S. imports by value are CTPAT-certified, according to a CBP presentation.
Coming withhold release orders on goods from China (see 2009080049) will cover “the entire supply chains for cotton, from yarn to textiles and apparel, as well as tomatoes, tomato paste and other regional exports,” said Brenda Smith, CBP’s executive assistant commissioner in the Office of Trade. She told Reuters in an interview that “we have reasonable, but not conclusive, evidence that there is a risk of forced labor in supply chains related to cotton textiles and tomatoes coming out of Xinjiang.” Plans to announce the WROs were delayed due to “scheduling issues,” CBP told Reuters. CBP didn't comment to International Trade Today.