The Court of International Trade on Nov. 4 granted importer Camel Energy's motion to expedite its case against CBP's detention of two of its battery entries. Judge Claire Kelly, who was assigned to the case on Oct. 29, granted the motion to expedite and said that Camel Energy "may file a proposed briefing schedule" along with a "brief statement of reasons as to why this expedited timeframe is necessary" by Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. ET (Camel Energy v. United States, CIT # 25-00230).
From January through September of this year, CBP has denied U.S. entry to 5,806 imported shipments, valued at $55.6 million, as a result of enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to data recently released by the agency. This is the highest level of denied shipments, compared with the January through September period for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, and represents a much higher proportion of denied shipments to released shipments, though the value of denied shipments is lower.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Oct. 13-19 and 20-26:
CBP unlawfully excluded two entries of Camel Energy's battery imports for being made with forced labor in China's Xinjiang province, Camel Energy argued in a complaint at the Court of International Trade. The importer said it's not on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, and the batteries in its entries weren't "mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part using forced labor in the" Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) (Camel Energy v. United States, CIT # 25-00230).
The addition of caustic soda as a high priority sector for forced labor enforcement through the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act represents an entirely new compliance challenge for importers because of its ubiquity and difficulty to trace, according to an Oct. 6 report by risk intelligence firm Kharon.
CBP failed to explain its finding that Dominican exporter Kingtom Aluminio made its aluminum extrusions with forced labor, the Court of International Trade held on Sept. 23. Vacating and remanding the forced labor finding, Judge Timothy Reif said the agency failed to "articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action” based on a “rational connection between the facts found and the choice made" in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act's arbitrary and capricious standard.
CBP is planning to release a separate forced labor portal in FY 2026 that importers will be required to use, according to a document the agency prepared for the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee's forced labor working group ahead of the COAC's Sept. 17 meeting.
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Lawyers with extensive experience in Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions said that CBP processes have been changing, and that companies should stress test how quickly they can get documents about materials from their suppliers and suppliers' suppliers, and how quickly they can understand all they've been given and send the right documents to CBP.
Crowell & Moring partner David Stepp, a trade expert in the Los Angeles office, said that he and other trade lawyers have been hearing rumors about how the Trump administration will define "transshipment" in its reciprocal trade agreements. He said the rumor is that details will be released "in coming days."