CBP hopes to deploy a "centralized website portal" by mid-2024 for importers to submit requests for exception, applicability, and admissibility reviews under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, and Withhold Release Orders, the agency said.
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., called on DHS to do more isotopic testing for enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The plea for more isotopic testing, which came in a Nov. 29 letter, is in response to a Reuters report finding that of 86 samples tested from December 2022 to May, 15% tested positive for Xinjiang cotton (see 2309010038).
The Court of International Trade in a Nov. 30 opinion said that it is likely to have jurisdiction over Chinese exporter Ninestar Corp.'s challenge to its placement on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. Following Ninestar's motion for a preliminary injunction against its placement on the list, Judge Gary Katzmann ruled more narrowly, holding Ninestar is likely to show that jurisdiction is proper under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction, which covers any civil action regarding "embargoes or other quantitative restrictions." While the U.S. said the UFLPA Entity List does not create an embargo since it establishes a rebuttable presumption, Katzmann said the court has exerted jurisdiction over similar embargoes where exemptions or reconsideration are granted.
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CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Customs and trade lawyer Adrienne Braumiller, founder of the Braumiller Law Group in Texas, said she expects forced labor detentions to increase as a result of the hiring of Laura Murphy to advise Robert Silvers, the DHS's undersecretary for strategy, policy and plans.
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A spotlight on Uyghur forced labor in auto parts manufacturing that began a year ago (see 2212060054) has not yet resulted in much action from CBP (see 2309210025), but forced labor researchers say that may not continue to be the case.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Dec. 13 remotely and in Washington, D.C., CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by Dec. 8.
The White House said it will ask the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to "pursue effective and meaningful remediation of labor rights violations or to address gaps in labor rights protections," and asked USTR and the Department of Labor to develop new tools and strategies to address these gaps.