CBP released an updated ACE Development and Deployment Schedule on Jan. 30, making changes to its description of an upcoming requirement for filers to submit a Chinese postal code on the cargo release for goods of Chinese origin. The entry for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Region Alert says the “specific applications impacted” by the new requirement will be the “Cargo Release (SE) application -- only for the Manufacturer (MF) party and only when the country is reported as the People’s Republic of China (CN) in the SE36 and/or SE56 record,” as well as the “Manufacturer Identification Code ($I) application -- when creating or updating a Manufacturer Identification Code with a city located in the People’s Republic of China (CN).” CBP also now says the “enhancement will provide the ability to update an existing MID with a postal code.” The anticipated deployment date remains March 18.
A lawyer, a lobbyist and a think tank scholar all agreed -- the Section 301 tariff review is unlikely to result in significant changes to the punitive tariffs on most Chinese goods.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Importers of non-textile goods that are of Chinese origin but sourced from a seller in another country may not have to transmit the Chinese postal code as will be required on March 18 (see 2212210041) under a new ACE Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act “Region Alert,” according to a CBP official speaking during a webinar hosted by the agency Jan. 26.
CBP has now received two “exception requests” seeking to rebut the presumption that goods produced in Xinjiang were produced with forced labor, said CBP’s Therese Randazzo, special adviser in the agency’s Forced Labor Division, during a webinar hosted by CBP on Jan. 26.
House Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said that the committee will definitely want to look into how the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is being enforced, and he expects there to be joint committee hearings on the topic.
Importers should consider four areas of risk as they develop anti-forced labor programs – at-risk populations, high-risk sectors, high-risk geographies and high-risk business models -- amid a rise of laws banning imports of goods made with forced labor worldwide, KPMG’s Elizabeth Shingler said during a webinar Jan. 24.
CBP targeted 310 entries worth over $59 million in December 2022, including goods subject to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and withhold release orders, the agency said in its most recent operational update. The number of entries targeted was down from November's total of 444 entries worth some $128 million (see 2212270038). CBP also seized 1,501 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $178 million in December, and completed 26 audits that identified $86.9 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government for goods that had been improperly declared, the agency said.
LAREDO, Texas -- CBP hopes this year to “formalize and normalize” its forced labor enforcement processes following initial implementation of recent changes to forced labor laws, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, said AnnMarie Highsmith, CBP executive assistant commissioner, in remarks at a conference Jan. 18.
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