Chinese manufacturer Camel Group Co. took to the Court of International Trade last week to contest its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, arguing that the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force "utterly disregarded, ignored and trampled" its due process rights in a "flawed and poorly executed process." The company said FLETF illicitly conducted the process in the shadows, refusing to offer it access to any of the evidence used against the company, and that the decision to deny its petition to be removed from the list wasn't backed by substantial evidence (Camel Group Co. v. United States, CIT # 25-00022).
Cotton and textile manufacturers, mining companies and manufacturers producing solar modules with polysilicon were among those targeted for inclusion in the Department of Homeland Security's list of companies flagged for using forced labor or sourcing materials from the Xinjiang region in China.
The Department of Homeland Security has added 37 more companies to its list of entities that may be using forced labor from the Xinjiang region of China, bringing the total number of companies on the list to 144. Three energy companies were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List in the category of companies allegedly harboring or using forced labor, while 35 companies within the textile, energy and solar industries were added for sourcing materials from the Xinjiang region or participating in government-supported poverty alleviation schemes. One company, a zinc manufacturer, was flagged for using forced labor and sourcing materials from the Xinjiang region. The listings take effect Jan. 15, according to a Federal Register notice.
A policy analyst with Washington think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation argues that CBP should conduct randomized audits using forensic testing technology to ensure that goods imported from Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as Temu, are abiding by federal regulations aimed at preventing the use of forced labor from the Uyghur Autonomous Region in China.
The Southern Shrimp Alliance again requested that Chinese company Rongcheng Sanyue Foodstuff Co., Ltd., be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s Entity List, in a letter sent Dec. 30 to DHS' Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force.
Venable lawyers said no one knows whether President-elect Donald Trump will hike tariffs on China by 10 percentage points, by 60 percentage points, or bring current tariff levels to 60%. Nor does anyone know if the threat of 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican exports will become reality.
There are now 107 companies flagged by U.S. regulators for using forced labor or sourcing materials from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, with the inclusion of 29 more companies, DHS said.
DHS added 30 more companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List for allegedly using forced labor or participating in forced labor schemes, it said in a notice. Some of the companies are in the metals sector, including the mining, smelting and processing of gold, copper, lithium, beryllium, nickel, manganese, chromium, iron and aluminum. Other newly listed entities produce food products, including tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger and garlic, edible seeds, walnuts and herbs for medicinal purposes. The listings take effect Nov. 25.
Correction: Tasha Reid Hippolyte, DHS deputy assistant secretary for trade and economic competitiveness, said (see 2411130036) that she is asking other decisionmakers in DHS to publish Chinese-language names of Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List firms, or the addresses of companies that have been added to the UFLPA Entity List. She said the easiest request to fulfill, "the one that I'm pushing," is to provide the Chinese-language names.
Singapore-headquartered Maxeon Solar Technologies says CBP continues to detain its solar panels imported from Mexico even though the company has provided proof that its solar panels comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.