Imported Apple products should be subject to a withhold release order and blocked at the ports due to possible involvement of forced labor in China, Campaign for Accountability said in Sept. 27 filing. "The seizure of Apple imports credibly tied to forced labor would be consistent with other recent CBP enforcement actions" and "[t]here is now compelling evidence that Apple iPhones, computers, and other products should be added to the list," the non-profit said in its submission.
CBP released details on the timelines used for responding to allegations of forced labor in a supply chain, in a July 30 report to Congress posted to the Department of Homeland Security website Sept. 22. The timelines “generally reflect the lifecycle of CBP responding to a petition; however, responding to a petition is a law enforcement investigation and not a linear administrative process,” DHS said. As a result, “extraordinarily complicated investigations, case prioritization, available resources, and other significant factors may affect the actual timeline of certain case,” DHS said.
Trade professionals and a trade scholar, talking on a panel that compared the Trump and Biden administrations' trade policies, said that not as much has changed on trade as might have been expected. Christine McDaniel, an economist at George Mason University, said she doesn't expect any of the Section 301 tariffs or the steel and aluminum tariffs to be lifted before the end of 2021. "I haven’t seen any indication they’re going to pull back on the tariffs," she said during a seminar at the Virginia Small Business Development Center on Sept. 21. "I’ve heard people say that the Trump trade policy is just being continued by the Biden administration, minus the rhetoric. You can make the argument for that."
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 13-19:
Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the co-chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, said that in order to transition as soon as possible to renewable energy without doing so "on the backs of slave labor," the House of Representatives "must pass and the president must sign into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act." The Senate passed a version of this bill in July; a House version was included in the EAGLE Act, which passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Merkley's co-chair, Rep Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, said he felt the Senate approach was not strong enough (see 2107290018). Merkley and McGovern are both Democrats.
CBP recently updated its frequently asked questions about the withhold release order aimed at silica-based products from China that made a first mention of de minimis considerations (see 2108030026). CBP's revised response to a question about whether finished products containing a small percentage of silica-based products subject to the WRO now says the agency “recognizes there may be some very fact-specific instances, where the question of the contribution of prohibited labor to the whole of a product (from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective) is something that a court might consider with respect to the statutory intent of Section 1307 of Title 19, United States Code.” The updated version also removes any mention of the phrase “de minimis” and an example of a de minimis contribution.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Sept. 7-10 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The CBP modification of its forced labor finding on Top Glove imports from Malaysia followed several actions by the company to remedy forced labor indicators, the agency said Sept. 10. “CBP modified a Finding after thoroughly reviewing evidence that Top Glove has addressed all indicators of forced labor identified at its Malaysian facilities,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said. “Top Glove’s actions in response to the Withhold Release Order, which include issuing more than $30 million in remediation payments to workers and improving labor and living conditions at the company’s facilities, suggest that CBP’s enforcement efforts provide a strong economic incentive for entities to eliminate forced labor from their supply chains.”
CBP is ending a forced labor finding on disposable gloves made by Top Glove in Malaysia, after finding the company submitted enough evidence that its disposable gloves are no longer being made with forced labor, CBP said in a notice. Effective on the notice’s date of publication, scheduled for Sept. 10, disposable gloves made by Top Glove in Malaysia will no longer be subject to detention, seizure and forfeiture under the forced labor finding.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Aug. 30 - Sept. 3 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.