The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is set to take effect on June 21, and the Biden administration said on Wednesday that it is ready to take a tough stance and ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless it is imported The manufacturer has clear evidence that there is no forced labor in the production of the relevant product.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden at the end of 2021, will take effect on June 21 this year. By then, for all Xinjiang-made products to enter the U.S. market, companies need clear evidence that the goods are free of forced labor, otherwise imports will be banned under the 1930 Tariff Act.
Elva Muneton, assistant director of commercial ports at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said Wednesday that the Biden administration is ready to fully enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Importantly, the threshold for customs clearance required by the decree will be very high, Muneton added.will require importers to provide documentation, including clear and convincing evidence that the supply chain for imported products is free of forced labor.
U.S. Customs is still working out guidance on what evidence importers will need to provide, with the goal of providing it in about a week.
If importers cannot provide sufficient evidence, they will then have the option to ship the prohibited goods back to the country of origin, Muneton said. And any exemptions for specific products must be approved by the CBP Commissioner and reported to Congress. CBP will also pay attention to whether importers are suspected of cheating and impose penalties on importers who violate the law.
A previous report by Paul Hastings, a well-known US law firm, pointed out that the ban will affect nearly 120 billion Chinese goods exports, including solar energy, cotton, textiles and clothing and electronic products produced by enterprises in Xinjiang.