Though the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) designates polysilicon as a “high-priority enforcement sector,” the polysilicon produced in Xinjiang, and elsewhere in China, “currently does not meet the extremely high levels of purity required for semiconductor-grade polysilicon,” the Semiconductor Industry Association commented in docket DHS-2022-0001. The comments were in response to a DHS notice on how best to comply with UFLPA measures for preventing goods produced with forced labor in China from being imported into the U.S. CBP, under the direction of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), is scheduled to begin enforcing the statute’s “rebuttable presumption” measures June 21.

A Mexican factory that was shut down by the government doesn't need to include costs incurred during the time it was inoperative in the parent company's computed value calculations, CBP said in a newly released Jan. 7 ruling. The facility, which is owned by Chamberlain, was shut down in March 2020 by state authorities in Sonora, Mexico, as part of an emergency decree closing all nonessential businesses in response to COVID-19. CBP's ruling hinged on the fact that the costs incurred during the time of the government-mandated shutdown were "not employed in the production of the imported merchandise."

While the consumer tech industry “condemns the use of forced labor” and “unequivocally supports” the Biden administration’s efforts “to end this scourge around the world,” there are concerns with the timing of new requirements, the Consumer Technology Association commented in docket DHS-2022-0001. The comments were due March 10 in response to a January DHS notice on how best to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) by preventing goods produced with forced labor in China from being imported into the U.S.

The U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union announced together that they no longer will give Russian goods the same tariff treatment as other members of the World Trade Organization. Canada, the other member of the G-7, had already hiked tariffs on all Russian goods to 35%.

CBP posted an updated guidance document on proving admissibility for goods that are stopped due to the withhold release order aimed at silicon produced by Hoshine Silicon Industry, a company located in China's Xinjiang province, and its subsidiaries (see 2106240062). The guidance is "intended to provide information to the trade community including contact information on where to seek guidance on admissibility packages, tips for admissibility package submissions, processing expectations after initial supply chain verification, and advance rulings," CBP said in its description. The agency previewed much of the document during a recent webinar (see 2203070075).

Although Democratic leadership in the House agreed to the administration's request to drop legislation to end Russia's permanent normal trade status, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., said late March 9: "Our response to this horrific, unprovoked war cannot end here. When Congress returns to Washington next week, we will act decisively, in a bipartisan manner, to suspend permanent normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.”

CBP should take an approach to implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act that is different than the current withhold release order regime, the American Association of Exporters and Importers said in comments to DHS. "The solution to forced labor does not lie with seizing goods at time of arrival," the trade group said. "Rather, it lies in timely information about suspected problem parties being shared at the time they are reliably identified."

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., speaking at an event about his proposal to remove Chinese exports' eligibility for de minimis, suggested that if the provision does not pass as part of a compromise China package, he's got a Plan B. The language in his bill says that de minimis won't be available to any non-market economy that's on the priority watch list. "Now, coincidentally, that's just China," Blumenauer said with a grin during the Rethink Trade webinar March 9.

CBP is working on some new guidance for the withhold release order aimed at silica-based products from Hoshine Silicon Industry in Xinjiang, China (see 2108030026), said Eric Choy, acting executive director of the Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate. Choy and other agency officials spoke on a March 4 webinar that was later posted to the Solar Energy Industries Association website. "We are working through our own administrative procedures here right now to make sure it meets the administrative requirements" to post on the agency's site, he said.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the author of the trade provisions within the House China package, said that a virtual conference committee has begun discussing a compromise between the House and Senate bills. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is making it harder to find the time to make progress, he said. There has been no public announcement that the chambers weren't going to use a formal conference committee (see 2202020055), or that negotiations had begun.