On July 26, 2023, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”) issued the first annual update to its guidelines for enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevent Act (“UFLPA”) in a Report to Congress titled “2023 Updates to the Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People’s
The Department of Homeland Security announced on August 1, 2023, that it is adding three entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) Entity List, the consolidated register of four lists required by section 2(d)(2)(B) of the UFLPA.
In an opinion issued on July 27, 2023, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) violated an importer’s due process rights by denying access to business confidential information relied on in making its final evasion determination under the Enforce and Protect Act of 2015 (“EAPA”). This decision marks a major victory for importers and foreign producers accused of transshipments and other forms of evasion, and it has significant implications for enforcement actions brought by CBP under EAPA and other statutory regimes, such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (“UFLPA”).
On June 9, 2023, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), led by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), added two companies based in the People Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. The additions included Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co., Ltd., Ninestar Corporation, and eight of its Zhuhai-based
On February 23, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) released new guidance for importers seeking admissibility of goods under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”). The three guidance documents include an updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), best practices for applicability reviews, and tips on submitting executive summaries and documentation when under an applicability
Recent reports indicate that aluminum is now being targeted for actions against forced labor under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”). Though U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has yet to officially announce aluminum as a targeted product under UFLPA, reports indicate that enforcement efforts against aluminum began as early as December 2022 –
On December 8, 2022, the Department of Commerce published its anti-circumvention preliminary determination with respect to the four Southeast Asian countries named above. The publication of the preliminary determination triggers the effective date of the certification process for importers to obtain exemptions from antidumping and/or countervailing duties for imports of solar panels. Any entity which
On December 2, 2022, the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) announced its preliminary circumvention determination with respect to certain solar cells and modules exported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Commerce found that imports of solar cells from all four countries circumvented the antidumping (“AD”) and countervailing (“CVD”) orders on solar cells and modules from the
The Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) published a notice seeking comments from interested parties on steps Commerce should take to modify its application of a “particular market situation” (“PMS”) analysis in antidumping duty cases after a series of decisions by both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of International
On November 1, 2022, the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) released the questionnaire it is requesting interested parties to submit for its consideration related to the economic impact of the Section 301 tariffs. The portal to submit responses to the questionnaire will open on November 15, 2022, and will remain open until January 17, 2023.