McDonald's, Illy, Nestle and other companies responded to allegations from civil society groups that their supply chains in Brazil have ties to forced labor.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed CBP and Homeland Security Investigations to "provide him with a comprehensive enforcement action plan in 30 days" to protect domestic textile interests. The announcement, after a meeting with domestic textile mill owners who asked the government to step up free trade agreement enforcement and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act apparel enforcement and to end de minimis sales, also says that report should include "a determination whether current trade law provides adequate authorities to solve the core issues."
As Josh Kagan leaves as assistant U.S. trade representative for labor, USTR Katherine Tai announced that Katy Mastman will replace him in an acting capacity. Tai said, "Josh’s leadership has been instrumental in our successful use of the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism and work to eradicate forced labor in supply chains."
Customs lawyer Ted Murphy, remarking on the nine-page letter from the House Select Committee on China regarding Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and other customs issues (see 2401220005), said firms should be aware that enforcement of laws that affect trade with China is a top priority.
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Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and two dozen other Democrats, told Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that it's clear that Vietnam doesn't meet the criteria in law to qualify as a market economy -- and that if the agency were to classify it that way, the way that status that would affect 25 antidumping and countervailing duty orders would threaten American workers.
Eight senators, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that "there is abundant evidence" to suggest that Vietnam has not met legal conditions for market economy status.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance formally petitioned for the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to add eight Chinese processing companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act's Entity List.
CBP in December identified 450 shipments valued at more than $187 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational statistics update. The value of those shipments is up from November, when CBP identified 331 shipments worth more than $125 million (see 2312260048). Also in December, CBP seized 1,291 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $86 million if the items had been genuine, the agency said.
CBP on Jan. 27 will deploy updates to the Automated Commercial Environment Protest user interface to automate Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act-related reviews, the agency said. Following the deployment, users will be able to protest a CBP exclusion decision via the ACE Protest tool, CBP said.