Goods Banned from Xinjiang, China Effective on June 21, 2022

The U.S. will ban imports of all goods made in whole or part from any material sourced and produced with labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China beginning June 21, 2022. Shippers and importers need to ensure their supply chains do not include such goods as described below.

In December 2022, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which deems all goods mined, produced, or manufactured in the XUAR to be produced by forced labor in China  and banned from entering the U.S.  This includes companies not importing directly from China if the materials used to produce the imported goods in a second country are tied at any level to XUAR or specific entities or commodities associated with forced labor in China.

Such imports will be banned unless Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determines that:

• The importer of record has fully complied with relevant guidance as provided by CBP.
• The importer has completely and substantively responded to all inquiries for information submitted to CBP to ascertain whether the goods were made wholly or in part with forced labor.
• By clear and convincing evidence, the goods were not made wholly or in part by forced labor.

Should the goods overcome the rebuttable presumption of being made with forced labor or materials, CBP will include it in a public list to be issued by CBP 30 days following the determination.

U.S. Interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force

The U.S. Interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force was charged to develop both a strategy to prevent the importation of forced labor goods and to provide guidance to importers with respect to:

• Importers due diligence, effective supply chain tracing, and supply chain management measures to ensure they do not import goods made with forced labor; 
• The type, nature, and extent of evidence that demonstrates goods originating in mainland China, including goods detained or seized pursuant to Section 307, were not made wholly or in part with forced labor.

CBP’s Publication entitled Supply Chain Due Diligence; and other information is available at cbp.gov/trade/forced labor.

European Union Could Ban XUAR Goods by Fall 2022

The European Commission is currently gathering public comment until June 2022 and anticipates creating a new forced labor measure by the Fall of 2022. The Commission plans to propose a regulation that would effectively ban the placing of such goods on the EU market of products made wholly or in part by forced labor.

Please contact your Western Overseas representative with questions.