The Court of International Trade on Feb. 27 ruled that Chinese exporter Ninestar Corp. wasn't required to exhaust its administrative remedies by appealing to the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force before challenging its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List "under the particular facts of this case." But Judge Gary Katzmann denied the exporter's motion for a preliminary injunction against its placement on the Entity List, finding that the company was unlikely to succeed on three of its four claims against its listing.
CBP sent a questionnaire earlier this month to solar companies asking how they're guarding against the use of forced labor in their supply chains. The agency asked about the origins of solar modules, panels and related products, according to a draft of the survey obtained by Bloomberg. CBP wants invoices and other documents from distributors, wholesalers, exporters and resellers, as well as organizational charts and locations of production facilities.
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With no legislative action on a proposal to end China's eligibility for de minimis shipments, one of its authors, Sen. Sherrod Brown, is asking the Biden administration to end de minimis treatment for all e-commerce purchases, or, at least, stop de minimis treatment for goods subject to partner government agency review, products that are trade priorities, and goods subject to Section 301 and Section 232 tariffs.
Kelley Drye customs attorney John Foote, in analyzing the news that some Porsches, Audis and Bentleys couldn't enter the U.S. because of a part connected to Uyghur forced labor, (see 2402150026), said the story is an example of thorough supply chain tracing and ethical compliance action from Volkswagen, the company that made the cars.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China on Feb. 22 urged the Volkswagen Group to improve its compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act following a report that CBP seized thousands of the company’s Audi, Bentley and Porsche cars at U.S. ports for illegally containing parts made with forced labor in Xinjiang, China (see 2402150026).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: