The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), released an updated Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Notably in this year’s strategy, the FLETF has identified new high priority sectors for enforcement – aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and seafood – for the first time since 2022.
The Department of Homeland Security, Chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) released a summary of enforcement efforts since enactment of the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act. Highlighted in the fact sheet are the impacts the FLETF has made on Solar, PVC and Cotton supply chains, as well as a summary of the recent designation of New High Priority Sectors for Enforcement
The USTR's office Monday released the second Report on the Operation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) with Respect to Trade in Automotive Goods . The conclusion of the report is that there is no conclusion. The automotive industry continues preparing for full implementation of the USMCA rules of origin (ROOs) when special flexibilities afforded under alternative staging regimes begin to expire in 2025.
Wednesday Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), United Steelworkers leadership and Cleveland Cliffs leadership called on the administration to act to stop the surge in Mexican steel imports, which has been attributed to the Chinese government routing steel through Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs. "The Mexican government is currently violating a 2019 agreement with the U.S. and threatening steelworkers in Ohio and around the country," according to a statement.
Milwaukee Tool faces allegations of utilizing forced labor in a Chinese prison factory to manufacture work gloves, where workers endured harsh conditions, including beatings and torture. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, asserts that the company either knew or should have known that the gloves were produced through forced labor, contravening the U.S. Trafficking Victim Protection Act.
While Fulfilled by Amazon merchants have long taken advantage of the duty-free treatment of small shipments, Amazon's own merchandise sales have customarily involved the payment of tax and duty, creating an opening for the Chinese e-tailers Shein and Temu. Not for long. Wednesday, Amazon announced a new channel for its platform which will sell consumer goods and clothing direclty from China to US customers. Eliminating the US warehousing nexus puts the Seattle-based merchant on equal footing with its Chinese rivals, in terms of landed cost.
The United States last year imported 3 billion pounds of UCO, half of which came from China – up from a total of 200 million pounds imported in 2020. A bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Biden Administration to address this surge in imports.
Just in case you're still depending on a Russian vendor for your cybersecurity, the Commerce Department has banned Kaspersky Labs from directly or indirectly providing anti-virus software and cybersecurity products or services in the United States or to U.S. persons. The Final Determination by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is the first of its kind and is the first Final Determination issued by BIS’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services (OICTS).
Congressional China hawks called for the Commerce Department to include Chinese drones in evolving regulations for connected vehicles. "With UAVs’ connected software and hardware posing similar national security threats to those of other identified connected vehicles, such transactions present undue and unacceptable risks to U.S. national security," the lawmakers wrote.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on BMW to provide straight answers about its use of parts made by a banned Chinese supplier, following shifting explanations from the German automaker in response to a Finance Committee Democratic staff investigation. “The Committee is continuing to investigate several aspects of BMW’s exposure to forced labor through JWD, its tier 3 supplier,” the Senator wrote in a letter to the automaker.
Canadian helmet manufacturer Galvion, Ltd. has agreed to pay $2,495,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act through the knowing sale of non-conforming parts to the United States Department of Defense. Through prime vendors, the company sold products to the United States under a Defense Logistics Agency program which requires that textiles be sourced from the United States in accordance with the Berry Amendment. The investigation stemmed from a complaint made to the DLA Hotline related to the origin of materials used in the company’s products.
Congressional Republican China hawks have called for a comprehensive ban on trade and investment dealings with two leading manufacturers of electric vehicle battery systems, Led by the new Chair of the House Select China Committee John Moolenaar (R-MI), the lawmakers wrote letters detailing "shocking new evidence implicating major Chinese battery manufacturers, Gotion and CATL, in Chinese Communist Party state-sponsored slave labor and the ongoing Uyghur genocide." The letters to Mr. Silvers detail supply relationships between the two firms and mineral, metals and labor providers currently under US sanction for their involvement in modern slavery in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region of Western China.
The Department of Commerce seeks public comment to inform its work on assessing and analyzing risk in global supply chains. The deadline is June 21. This includes input into a determination of an initial list of “critical sectors” and “key goods” as provided under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience.
A bipartisian gropu of China hawks on Capitol Hill sent sent a letter to MSCI's President Henry Fernandez outlining "significant concerns" after the firm removed its forced labor red flag for Volkswagen's factory in China. The Volkswagen factory in Xinjiang is known for using Uyghur forced labor, This led MSCI, an American finance company, to grant Volkswagen a “red flag” rating in 2022. However, MSCI , relying on an audit the lawmakers describe as "flawed," made the decision to lift Volkswagen’s “red flag” rating.
In a statement released May 31, CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller addressed the Bureau's efforts to "Enhance Enforcement and Prevent Exploitation in the De Minimis Environment." "While the majority of brokers, carriers, and supply chain businesses that participate in CBP’s Entry Type 86 Test are compliant with applicable laws, we are enhancing our enforcement efforts to ensure that all participants are held accountable when they are not," he said.
April's announced "enhanced" enforcement of small package imports threatens to bring certain e-commerce activities to a standstill. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is reportedly inspecting every single ecommerce shipment coming from mainland China by air freight.
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA, is informing the public of another phase of the Federal Government’s enforcement schedule. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey Act to provide, in part, that importers submit a declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant products.
The United States has asked Mexico to review whether workers at the Volkswagen de México, S.A. de C.V. facility in Cuautlancingo, Puebla, are being denied their rights to freedom of …
The USTR announced the successful resolution of the second USMCA facility-specific Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter in the mining sector, regarding Minera Tizapa S.A. de C.V, a subsidiary of Industrias Peñoles, S.A.B. de C.V. The facility, a venture of of Industrias Peñoles and Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and Dowa Metals & Mining. Zinc concentrates produced at Tizapa are sent to Japan for processing.
The United States announced the successful resolution of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter at the Servicios Industriales González, S.A. de C.V. (SIG) facility, a major metal fabricator and supplier for Caterpillar, John Deere and Komatsu in Nuevo Leon.