Xinjiang

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”).  The UFLPA, signed by President Biden on December 23, 2021, creates a rebuttable presumption that goods manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“Xinjiang”) or produced by an entity on a number of lists to be produced, will be denied entry into the U.S. under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).  The UFLPA was passed in response to the alleged use of forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, and other persecuted groups in China.  Readers can learn more about the UFLPA and the rebuttable presumption, which goes into effect on June 21, 2022, in our previous post following the UFLPA’s enactment.

Earlier this month, the US Government updated its ongoing response to what the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) described as “Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regions of China (“XUAR”), where the [People’s Republic of China] continues to…

The Biden Administration has taken new actions related to forced labor in the Xinjiang region that may affect the supply for material critical for solar panels: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO), the Department of Commerce (Commerce) updated its Entity List, and the Department of Labor (Labor) updated its “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.”  These updates are part of an increased emphasis on both forced labor issues and a crackdown on goods from China’s Xinjiang province, and come on the heels of the G7 Summit that was held in mid-June.  The White House indicated that the Administration’s actions are a “translation” of the commitments made at the G7 denouncing forced labor in the Xinjiang region.

On January 13, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued a region-wide Withhold Release Order (“WRO”) against cotton products and tomato products originating from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“Xinjiang”) in China. The WRO also applies to all products made in whole or in part from Xinjiang cotton and tomatoes, regardless of where those downstream…