U.S. International Trade Commission
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a forced-labor finding against Kingtom Aluminio S.R.L. (“Kingtom”), a Chinese-owned aluminum extruder in the Dominican Republic. CBP determined that aluminum extrusions, profile...more
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana. As an example of this I present to you the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. If you are not familiar with this, it is worth taking a moment...more
In February 2024, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began taking a new approach to Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) enforcement—questionnaires. Once again, the solar industry is among the first targets, vanguards...more
The fight against forced labor in trade is not a new concept. For decades, the United States has banned the importation of goods produced with forced labor through the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 (“Tariff Act”). Section 307 of...more
The rebuttable presumption of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act ("UFLPA") took effect on June 21, 2022. As a reminder, under this presumption for purposes of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930, goods produced in the...more
Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force issues required enforcement strategy, including guidance to importers. On June 21, 2022, the key operative provision of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entered into...more
On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Federal Register notice requesting public comments on methods to prevent the importation into the United States of goods made wholly or in part...more
On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on the implementation of the new regional import restriction affecting goods from the...more
On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on behalf of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) issued a Notice Seeking Public Comments on Methods to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined,...more
Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a request for comments to assist the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”) with implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”)...more
Will 2022 Be the Year of Supply Chain Ethics? Effective June 21, 2022, in an effort to address forced labor concerns, U.S. law will broadly prohibit imports of products from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region...more
On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA or the “Act”), Pub. L. No. 117-78, which will ban the importation of all goods sourced from the People’s Republic of...more
After more than a year of debate in the U.S. Congress as to the scope and enforceability, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA or Act) passed Congress with strong bipartisan support. President Biden has publicly...more
The UFLPA aims to clamp down on the import of items produced by alleged forced labor in and relating to the XUAR. On 16 December 2021, the US Senate unanimously passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA),...more
Legislation Will Block Imports Linked to Human Rights Abuses in China On December 16, 2021, Congress passed H.R. 6256, known as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The UFLPA establishes a rebuttable presumption...more
On Thursday, 24 June 2021, the Biden administration took various actions against solar product manufacturers in the Xinjiang region, which will have implications on the supply chain for the construction of solar energy...more
On May 4, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the seizure of a shipment containing 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves that, according to CBP, is directly linked to forced labor practices in Malaysia. ...more
Review Your Supply Chain and Establish Compliance Plans Because Forced Labor Laws are Here to Stay - If passed, these bills will grant US Customs and Border Protection authority for a region-wide WRO enabling the agency...more
In case there was any doubt as to where the Biden administration stands on forced labor enforcement, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stated recently that its “message to the trade community is clear: Know...more
CBP has issued a “region-wide” WRO on cotton and tomato products “grown or produced” by entities “operating in” the XUAR. In a press release, CBP states that the order covers “apparel, textiles, tomato seeds, canned tomatoes,...more
On January 13, 2021, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an order blocking all imports of cotton and tomato products from China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The order, intended to address CBP’s...more
The Situation: Companies are facing increased pressure by U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") and other federal agencies to demonstrate that goods imported into the United States were produced without the use of forced...more
Criminal investigations will target businesses profiting from the importation into the United States of goods made using forced labor. The new criminal enforcement initiative seeks to leverage data about corporate supply...more
A Taiwanese-owned, Vanuatu-flagged fishing vessel is the first known enforcement target of its kind by US Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") in its efforts to halt the importation of goods produced with forced labor....more
On November 22, 2017, Apple, Inc. (“Apple”) released a statement confirming reports that its major supplier in China, Foxconn Technology Group (“Foxconn”) has used illegal student labor to assemble the latest version of the...more