CBP will bolster a number of existing initiatives in the coming months aimed at preventing the import of products made with forced labor, said Katie Woodson, assistant director within the operations and forced labor divisions of CBP's Office of Trade, during a panel on forced labor at last week's Western Cargo Conference.
Because China makes 90% of anode and cathode materials, and dominates processing of critical minerals, no matter where they are mined, recent hikes in tariffs on Chinese minerals will do little, trade experts agreed.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Decoupling between the U.S. and China in the most technologically advanced products is real, economists said at an Oct. 21 Peterson Institute for International Economics event, but trade overall between the two countries continues to grow, if more slowly than trade with other partners.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the lead sponsor of a bill to impose a 30% tariffs on Chinese drones, with a 5% escalation annually, as well as a bill banning Da-Jiang Innovations-made drones on U.S. communications infrastructure, reacted to the news that CBP is detaining DJI drones under suspicion they are made with Uyghur forced labor.
Chinese drone supplier DJI said CBP is holding up shipments of select drones. In a blog post Oct. 17, the company said CBP cited the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) as the reason for the holdups. DJI denied that any of its goods were produced with forced labor, saying, “this assertion made against [us] ... is entirely unfounded and categorically false.” The company said it's working with CBP to provide the necessary documentation, “demonstrating [its] compliance with the UFLPA.” CBP declined to comment.
Officials from Squire Patton Boggs said that if Donald Trump returns to the presidency, a 10% tariff or higher on a vast swath of imports could come very quickly, but what wouldn't be subject to the tariffs is not yet clear.
CBP's new Forced Labor Allegation Portal and Forced Labor Portal will consolidate the information collection of potential forced labor violations into one centralized location, "increasing efficiency and reducing the burden of collection to both CBP and the public," the agency said in a notice seeking comments as it prepares to submit the information collection to the Office of Management and Budget.
A new report from C4ADS says that although only 4% of Chinese pharmaceuticals are manufactured in Xinjiang province, FDA registrations of companies in the Uyghur region show that imports that should be banned under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act are happening.