CBP targeted 444 entries worth over $128 million for suspected use of forced labor in November 2022, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational update. The number of entries targeted was up from October, although the value of the entries was about the same (see 2211150070). CBP also seized "nearly 1,536 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $196 million" in November, and completed 41 audits that identified $1.9 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government for goods that had been improperly declared, the agency said.
CBP said it began detaining merchandise produced by Jingde Trading Ltd., Rixin Foods, Ltd., and Xhejiang Sunrise Garment Group Co. Ltd. on Dec. 5, after its investigation indicated the companies' products were made in part by North Korean labor. The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, prohibits the entry of goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by North Korean citizens anywhere in the world, unless there is clear and convincing evidence the goods were not made with forced, indentured or convict labor. The enforcement action was made public Dec. 27.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said he sent letters to major automakers asking about their supply chains' links to the Xinjiang region in China because "there are substantial questions with respect to forced labor ... and we want to get to the bottom of it."
An upcoming requirement to include a postal code for entries of China-origin goods and new and updated Chinese manufacturer IDs is now scheduled for deployment on March 18, and CBP is looking to also automate the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions process in the following months, according to an updated CBP ACE deployment schedule released Dec. 21.
The International Trade Administration will receive a major increase in funding from the last fiscal year, a bump from $559 million to $625 million, the more than 4,000-page annual appropriations bill says. Of that, $16.4 million is dedicated for China antidumping and countervailing duty enforcement and compliance, exactly what the administration asked for (see 2203280048).
The Commerce Department’s recent preliminary determination that Southeast Asian solar cells and panels are circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties (see 2212020064) left several questions unanswered, and lawyers for the Solar Energy Industries Association hope the agency will clarify these issues as the case proceeds to its final determinations, they said during a webinar Dec. 13.
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Importers of goods from China containing critical minerals are likely at heightened risk of detentions under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act as concerns surface that forced labor is being used in Chinese critical mineral supply chains (see 2210040066), lawyers from White & Case said in a client alert last week.
CBP should develop a single automated system for its detention and seizure process, as well as a portal for rightsholders and importers to allow for communication with CBP when infringement of intellectual property rights is suspected, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in recommendations adopted at its Dec. 7 meeting.
The United Autoworkers, responding to a British university report that the auto parts industry is tainted by Uyghur inputs (see 2212060054), said its members' employers need to make sure their supply chain does not include goods from Xinjiang.