China last week imposed sanctions against U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., for frequently making "remarks and actions that interfere in China's internal affairs and undermine China's sovereignty, security and development interests," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, according to an unofficial translation. The ministry said it will impose an asset freeze and travel ban on McGovern.
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) is a U.S. law passed in 2021 which created a "rebuttable presumption" that goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or partially in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are made using forced labor, and therefore banned from import into the United States. DHS's Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force maintains a UFLPA Entity List which lists offending companies. Importers that have had goods detained by CBP under UFLPA must either prove their goods were not made with forced labor, or demonstrate that their goods weren't made in whole or part in Xinjiang, in a process called an applicability review.
An investigation by the House Select Committee on China found that U.S. financial institutions facilitated the investment of $6.5 billion last year in 63 Chinese companies that the U.S. government has “blacklisted or otherwise red-flagged” for advancing China’s military capabilities or supporting its human rights abuses, the committee said April 18.
The top Republican on the House Select Committee on China asked the Biden administration to determine whether 13 Chinese government officials should be subject to sanctions and 25 entities should be added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List for their ties to human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Canada launched investigations of Nike Canada and Dynasty Gold this week after receiving complaints that both companies’ supply chains have ties to forced labor in China. A Canadian agency said it’s probing allegations that Nike has “supply relationships” with Chinese companies that use Uyghur forced labor and that Dynasty Gold, a mining company, benefited from Uyghur forced labor at a Chinese mine in which it had a majority stake.
The chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee used his perch to promote a bill he sponsored that would allow the president to lower duties on non-import-sensitive goods made by a country that lost exports due to coercive actions; increase duties on imports from the "foreign adversary" committing the coercion; and allow the U.S. to more easily facilitate trade, including exports, with the coerced parties (see 2302230021).
Twenty-seven House Republicans, led by Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, asked CBP to defend its implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, in light of a recent report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (see 2209060033). They asked if any red jujube dates from Xinjiang have entered the U.S. since June 21, and if so, how many shipments have done so.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely June 29, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by June 24.