International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee chairman's bill that would restrict the use of de minimis for Chinese sellers has already inspired a coalition of opponents, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Express Association of America, National Retail Federation and others. The Import Security and Fairness Act was introduced Jan. 18.
After the first USMCA deputies meeting, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. issued a joint statement saying that they are scrutinizing the implementation of the prohibition on importing goods made with forced labor. They also discussed environmental law enforcement cooperation, and training planned this year for small businesses so they can access the treaty's benefits. All said "though there have been challenges, progress continues to be made under the Agreement."
Many companies may not have insight into where their raw materials come from, said Wiley lawyers while speaking on a webinar about preparing for the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. But doing the best they can to eradicate any links to the Xinjiang province in China is needed to lower the risk that goods could be detained under suspicion of forced labor, given that imports with links to Xinjiang will be assumed to be made with forced labor, starting in June.
U.S. allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang are the “lie of the century,” perpetuated by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), a group that is “biased” against Beijing and has “no political credibility at all,” a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said Jan. 13, according to an English translation of a transcript of a regular press conference. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Chris Smith, R-N.J., all members of the CECC, wrote International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach Jan. 12 seeking “assurances” that the cotton that Chinese sportswear companies Anta Sports and Hengyuanxiang Group source from Xinjiang was produced free of human rights violations. Since cotton made in Xinjiang is “synonymous with forced labor and the systematic repression that takes place there,” there exists the “worrisome possibility that IOC personnel or others attending the 2022 Olympic Games will be wearing clothing contaminated by forced labor,” they said. The IOC didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., joined by 14 Democrats on the committee, is asking that the Biden administration develop an action plan to improve the working conditions of Haitian migrant workers in the sugar industry in the Dominican Republic, including potentially banning the import of that sugar under the ban on goods made with forced labor.
The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and that committee's chairman, as well as the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, urged the deputy U.S. trade representative to press Mexico and Canada on market access issues for the energy and agricultural sectors, and the senators also complained about barriers for the telecom, pharmaceutical and television industries in either Mexico or Canada. Deputy USTR Jayme White is meeting with Canadian and Mexican counterparts this week.
In its annual State of American Business, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce chose to emphasize the need to double the level of legal immigration, its opposition to Build Back Better legislation and what it sees as overly aggressive antitrust enforcement over the need to remove tariffs on hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Chinese imports. Three years ago, the Chamber was arguing that the tariffs needed to go (see 1901100007), but last year, admitted it was not politically feasible as it laid out its trade agenda (see 2101130057).
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Importers are concerned that they will face a higher likelihood of goods being detained over the suspicion of forced labor come June without having the benefit of government advice on effective due diligence and supply chain tracing. But even that advice may not be enough of a roadmap for companies to be sure they can escape the rebuttable presumption that the item they are importing that could have inputs linked to Uyghur labor or Xinjiang production should be barred from entry into the United States, said Ted Murphy, a partner at Sidley Austin.