The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and the likelihood that the EU will pass a due diligence directive requiring disclosure of forced labor risk for large companies are changing the paradigm of supply chain visibility, a top Labor Department official said during a webinar on human rights in global supply chains. Thea Lee, a long-time union official and now deputy undersecretary for international affairs in the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, said, "I do think that we are in a new era, and it will behoove most companies to start taking these steps to be able to have the eyes into their supply chain whether they are directly impacted right now by the EU directive or whether they are selling goods into the United States."
TUCSON, Arizona -- CBP will be issuing its guidance on the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act prior to the new law’s June 21 effective date, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in remarks at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference May 4. The guidance, which will “provide transparency to CBP’s operational approach,” will be out “very, very soon,” he said.
TUCSON, Arizona -- As CBP develops its 21st Century Customs Framework, the role of the customs broker will change in ways that reflect the new era of economic competition and “national economic security” concerns, Brandon Lord, deputy executive director of CBP’s Office of Trade Policy and Programs, said May 3 at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference.
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Florida's two U.S. senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, introduced a bill that would require publicly traded companies to report any transactions with Chinese companies on the entity list or that are designated as military-industrial complex companies, and report their sourcing and due diligence activities for supply chains if their imported products have been "directly linked to products utilizing forced labor from Xinjiang, China." The senators, both Republican, announced the bill April 29, and said they have four other Republican co-sponsors.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked the chairman of the board of Volkswagen to justify joint ventures with Chinese companies, arguing that they are involved in child forced labor in Congolese cobalt mines, and the destruction of rainforest habitat in Indonesia. He also referred to a two-year-old non-governmental organization's report that said Highbroad Advanced Material Co. accepts transferred Uyghur labor, and that the company sells to Volkswagen for its electronic displays, and said that the two companies that are now in joint ventures are also implicated in Uyghur forced labor. He said Huayou Cobalt and Tsingshan Holding Group "are implicated in grotesque human rights abuses." Rubio announced the letter on April 28 in a press release.
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Cargill confirmed its suspension of purchases of palm oil from Sime Darby Plantation following CBP's forced labor finding on Sime Darby's palm oil goods (see 2204180015). After CBP issued the finding, Cargill "urged Sime Darby Plantation Berhad to provide information on how they have addressed the CBP forced labor allegations," Cargill said in an email. "Sime Darby Plantation Berhad has not yet come forward with sufficient information that enables Cargill to assess if the actions Sime Darby Plantation Berhad is taking meet the requirements set out in Cargill’s Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil. Therefore, Cargill has decided to suspend all new sourcing of palm oil and derivative products from Sime Darby Planation Berhad." It said it will review its decision when more information becomes available.
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said he asked American officials this week for more flexibility in how the tariff rate quotas for European steel products are administered. He said that while actions of the Biden administration have "put things, tradewise, on a more positive track," in his view "the current system [for TRQs] seems to be quite rigid."
The director of CBP's Office of Trade told an audience that importers who are considering importing a good that has a new supply chain and are concerned about running afoul of the ban on imports of goods made with forced labor can submit a request for a binding ruling that the product's supply chain is free of forced labor. CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie Highsmith, speaking at a webinar hosted by the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law on April 20, noted she was not presenting CBP's official position in her remarks.