CBP will expand its preliminary hold notification benefit for Trade Compliance program members of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) to include withhold release orders (WROs) and forced labor findings, the agency announced in a May 30 letter to CTPAT participants. Preliminary hold notifications were first offered as a benefit for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) holds back in March (see 2304260045).
CBP is now detaining imports of batteries under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, customs lawyer Richard Mojica said in a post on LinkedIn. “CBP’s Detention Notice Addendum -- a document that lists commodity-specific supply chain tracing requirements -- now references batteries,” Mojica said.
In a vote late on May 24, 214 members of the House of Representatives voted to override President Joe Biden's veto of a resolution that aimed to end the two-year pause on anti-circumvention deposits for some solar panel imports from Southeast Asia. There were 205 members who voted to continue the policy, and Congress needs a two-thirds majority to override a veto.
Very little of a hearing on customs modernization focused on the issues CBP and the trade have focused on as they work on a modernization proposal. The agency and traders are talking about new kinds of advance data, expedited release for trusted traders, better harmonization of data requests from partner government agencies and CBP, and data sharing from CBP with rights holders on intellectual property violations, among other changes.
The high-profile House Select Committee on China is recommending that the de minimis threshold of $800 be reduced "with particular focus on foreign adversaries including the PRC."
Eighteen months after a senator launched a discussion draft on customs modernization (see 2111030035), the House Ways and Means Committee is beginning its examination of how to shape a bill to update CBP's authorities.
CBP's Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will next meet June 14 in Arlington, Virginia, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by June 9.
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Importers doing due diligence on their Chinese suppliers to make sure they don’t run afoul of forced labor prohibitions need to stick with the “nuts and bolts” of supply chain information, rather than explaining why it’s needed or asking for certifications that the suppliers comply with U.S. law, both of which could be illegal under Chinese law, Virginia Newman of Miller & Chevalier said during a recent webinar.
CBP in April identified 377 shipments valued at more than $159 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational update. That's close to March's total of 400 shipments valued at more than $122.7 million (see 2304180032). CBP also seized 1,864 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $2.7 billion, and completed 33 audits that identified $136 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government for goods that had been improperly declared, the agency said.