A group of lawmakers is calling the outcry around the anticircumvention case on solar panels made in Southeast Asia "an attempt to undermine the integrity of our trade enforcement laws and the independence of our federal workforce."
The CBP Office of Trade Relations plans to host webinars on three dates in June to give an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the agency said on its UFLPA site. The webinars are scheduled for June 1, 10-11 a.m. EDT; June 7, 1-2 p.m. EDT; and June 16, 2-3 p.m. EDT.
Data analysis nonprofit C4ADS highlighted nine products that are "produced in disproportionately high volumes in Xinjiang that are part of global supply chains," in a new report released May 19. The report examines China's Xinjiang region's role in manufacturing those products: cotton, tomato products, pepper products, walnuts, rayon, calcium carbide, polysilicon, wind turbines, and beryllium. "These goods should be a focal point of international stakeholders’ response to the crisis in the region: if these goods are found to be produced by forced labor, or otherwise support oppression in Xinjiang, removing them from global supply chains can help end international support for these crimes," the report said.
The four leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, a Democrat and a Republican from each chamber, are asking appropriators to fully fund the CBP request of $70.3 million to implement the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, for more employees, technology and training.
CBP recently posted an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and forced labor withhold release order enforcement mechanisms. The table provides citations of the legal basis behind detention, appeal, evidentiary level and authorization under the UFLPA and WRO processes.
A few days after the majority of senators said they want Taiwan to be included in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (see 2205180034), U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai issued a readout of a May 20 meeting with a top Taiwanese official that made no mention of IPEF. Tai said she met with Taiwan’s Minister-Without-Portfolio John Deng, and said that they discussed "opportunities to deepen the economic relationship, advance mutual trade priorities based on shared values, and promote innovation and inclusive economic growth for their workers and businesses." It said they also discussed how Taiwan and the U.S. both want to fight forced labor, and how important supply chain traceability is.
Sidley Austin Partner Ted Murphy noted in his blog that while it is not easy to document that imports do not contain Xinjiang content, "we believe that it will be easier (and quicker) for most companies to demonstrate that articles do not contain Xinjiang content (or production by yet-to-be listed entities), than it will be to rebut the presumption of forced labor (which is likely to be a long-drawn out process)."
Applied DNA Sciences recently received a first request for traceable tagged cotton "that is directly attributable to the recent passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," the company said in an earnings news release. The company's CertainT platform is described as allowing for raw materials and products to be traced through unique molecular identifiers. "Our team has presented to many members of Congress, Federal agencies, and Committees regarding the utility of our platform in enforcing the Act," the company said. "Though not expected to be material to revenue in the current fiscal year, the shipment anticipates a global brand’s multi-year commitment to our CertainT platform through a scaled deployment across its many supply chains. We believe that the passage of the Act is a trigger point for the wider adoption of our CertainT platform that holds the potential for molecular taggant sales for textile fiber applications to become a second material revenue stream," it said. "With less than 45 days before the Act goes into force, we believe interest in CertainT by brands and their supply chains has never been higher.”
CBP is ready for the June start date of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, John Leonard, deputy executive assistant commissioner of the CBP Office of Trade told a textile conference audience. However, Leonard acknowledged that CBP won't have identified factories outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that employ Uyghurs or members of other persecuted groups by the start of enforcement. Those goods are also supposed to be blocked under the UFLPA.
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