Forced labor enforcement is "likely to ramp up even further" based on the inquiry of automakers led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and a letter from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, international trade lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP Ted Murphy said April 13. Wyden's investigation, which began last December, focuses on automakers and their use of forced labor in the supply chain (see 2212220045). Wyden's role as Senate Finance Committee chairman means the investigation on the auto industry's supply chains and their connection to Xinjiang "is likely going to spur CBP into action," and auto manufacturers and suppliers will likely see increased UFLPA detentions, according to Murphy.
The chair and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, along with the lead sponsors of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, told Homeland Security Undersecretary Robert Silvers that they're concerned about the implementation of UFLPA, and that they intend to call Silvers to testify at a hearing in the near future, along with "a panel of experts on trade, labor trafficking, and supply chain mapping."
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are not included under recently deployed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act requirements in ACE, CBP said in a recent CSMS message. Those customs territories are recognized under the separate country codes HK, TW and MO, respectively, CBP said. The UFLPA Region Alert took effect in ACE on March 18.
An international trade lawyer with Crowell's Los Angeles office said the focus of CBP on raw materials, whether cotton in apparel or polysilicon in solar panels, requires far more visibility into supply chains than importers were used to.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai reassured the members of the National Council of Textile Organizations that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has no interest in loosening rules of origin for clothing made in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Some have argued that the CAFTA-DR has not lived up to its potential because its rules are too restrictive (see 2112030045 and 2104140047).
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he sent a second round of letters to automakers and a round of letters to tier 1 suppliers about their ties to Xinjiang (see 2303280069) because he was disappointed by the tenor of the responses to his first round of letters in December.
The U.S. and Japan signed an agreement in Washington "formalizing the shared commitment of the Parties to facilitate trade, promote fair competition and market-oriented conditions for trade in critical minerals." The mini-deal that includes pledges not to impose export duties on the products, investment review within their countries for the sector, and a pledge to "confer on potential effective and appropriate domestic measures to address non-market policies and practices" that affect trade in critical minerals and critical minerals supply chains.
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After Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., heard from automakers that they ask their suppliers to pledge that they do not source inputs made with forced labor, he turned his attention to tier 1 suppliers to the major automakers, and is asking them the same questions he asked the eight major automakers back in December (see 2212220045). Although he asked automakers to detail how they do supply chain mapping, and asked if any of their goods have been subject to forced labor detentions, the companies did not reply with details.
Almost five years after the first round of 25% tariffs were put on Chinese imports, it was trade irritants with Mexico and India, as well as concerns about tariff preference programs and the lack of a market-opening strategy, that senators dwelled on during the U.S. Trade Representative's appearance in front of the Finance Committee.