Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, former ranking member of the House Select Committee China, hailed the passage of more funding for the Trade Fraud Task Force. The money was in a spending package for the Justice Department that passed both chambers of Congress this week, and is headed for the president's desk. The task force (see 2509020052) was given $2 million.
Starting immediately, CBP is permitting U.S. entry of palm oil and palm oil products produced by Malaysia's FGV Holdings Berhad and its subsidiaries, after having issued a withhold release order on the company and its holdings in September 2020 (see 2009300012).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
As CBP shifts its focus from trade facilitation and trade enforcement, conducting reasonable care is no longer enough, and importers must be prepared to do much more, according to the lead analytical content manager for risk management provider Sayari.
Importers seeking review of shipments that have been detained or excluded for forced labor enforcement must submit their review requests via CBP's new forced labor portal that is launching this month, according to CBP.
Two apparel trade experts said the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act had a bigger impact on sourcing shifts than this year's trade war, but if the framework agreements with Guatemala and El Salvador turn into full agreements, the duty-free status for qualifying apparel from those countries could make a difference.
Thirteen House Democrats are asking DHS to explain why there have been fewer detentions since March, why no new entities have been added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List since Jan. 15, and to explain CBP's strategy for enforcing UFLPA in high-priority sectors.
CBP should write a report on whether self-initiation of cases under the Enforce and Protect Act "would allow CBP to pursue more circumvention cases and extend existing investigations deeper into supply chains fully and whether such authority would result in greater enforcement," wrote the Senate Appropriations Committee, in its instructions to CBP as part of its DHS annual appropriations bill. It directed the agency to compile the report within 90 days of the bill's enactment.
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Chairwoman Maria Elena Salazar, R-Fla., asked a State Department official to press Mexico to stop accepting Cuban doctors' services, which she says is human trafficking. Salazar held a hearing on Mexico's relationship with its neighbors this week in the subcommittee.
CBP has issued a withhold release order against imports manufactured in Serbia by Linglong International Europe based on information CBP said "reasonably indicates" the use of forced labor.