According to “News Network” report: On June 21, Eastern Time, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, in accordance with the so-called Xinjiang-related Act of the U.S. Congress, presumed all products produced in China’s Xinjiang region to be so-called “forced labor” products and prohibited their import. Any products related to Xinjiang.
The so-called “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” prohibits the United States from importing Xinjiang products unless companies can provide “clear and convincing evidence” that the products are not made with so-called “forced labor.” In other words, this bill requires companies to “prove themselves innocent”, otherwise it will be presumed that all products manufactured in Xinjiang involve “forced labor.”
According to a report from the US “Wall Street Journal” on the 21st, the US Xinjiang-related bill “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” came into effect on the same day. Some US companies in China expressed that they were worried that the relevant regulations may cause logistics disruption and increase compliance costs. The burden of supervision will ” “seriously” falls on small and medium-sized enterprises.
▲”Wall Street Journal”: The United States bans the import of Xinjiang products, and many companies warn China that cargo transportation will be disrupted
Previous reports: The products manufactured by this company for the American sports brand Skechers were seized by US Customs!
As early as a few days before the bill officially came into effect, the United States focused on Skechers, a world-renowned shoe company that had spoken out for “Xinjiang cotton”, forcing the latter to provide “evidence” to prove that the company was There is no so-called “forced labor” in China’s supply chain. This move has the meaning of “killing the chicken to scare the monkeys”. If any company “does not follow the rules”, it will be labeled as “forced labor”. Not only will its products be seized, but even the entire company will be affected. He may face charges for violating the Xinjiang-related Act signed by the Biden administration. From this perspective, the United States’ move is tantamount to “open robbery.” However, this approach, which does not hesitate to disrupt the stability of the supply chain and satisfy its own political desires, will inevitably set off a strong opposition.
On June 16, a reporter from the Global Times recently learned from an informed source that U.S. Customs had recently seized some products produced by Skechers in China and shipped to the United States in accordance with the so-called “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.”
The above-mentioned unnamed insider told the Global Times reporter that the reason why U.S. Customs seized Skechers products is that these products are produced by Dongguan Oasis Shoes Co., Ltd., and Oasis Shoes employs Uyghur employees.
Since the products were seized, Skechers commissioned relevant partners to conduct an independent investigation into its product supply chain in China to verify whether Oasis Shoes is involved in “forced labor” in Xinjiang.
People familiar with the matter told the Global Times reporter that the relevant partners have recently submitted a final report to Skechers after a detailed investigation, confirming that “there is no evidence that Oasis Shoes and other companies in Dongguan employ employees from Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.” Racial discrimination against ethnic minority employees” and “there is no evidence that Xinjiang employees are prohibited from returning to Xinjiang.”
It is reported that Skechers plans to complain to the US Customs based on the above-mentioned investigation report, requesting the US Customs to remove Oasis Shoes from the blacklist and release Skechers’ products at the same time.
Increased risk of supply chain disruption
The Wall Street Journal stated that the U.S. supply chain audit agency said that in recent months, most large U.S. companies have been preparing for the implementation of the bill. Some business executives said the regulatory burden would fall “heavily” on small and medium-sized enterprises, which may not have the resources to understand and deal with compliance requirements. Ji Kaiwen believes that as some companies shift supply channels away from China, the implementation of this bill may increase pressure on global supply chains and inflation.
The New York Times also recently quoted trade experts as reporting that thousands of global companies rely on Xinjiang in their supply chains. If the United States fully implements the bill, many products may be blocked at the border.
How to prove the origin is also a tricky task. The British “Guardian” quoted Simpliciano, the policy research manager of the well-known brand “Fashion Revolution”, as saying that this US bill will cause great difficulties and chaos to the supply chain. For example, the habit of the cotton textile industry is to import cotton from all over the world. When blending cotton, how to identify and trace which part of the cotton raw materials comes from Xinjiang? The US “Politics” News Network stated that many US importers are panicking about this bill. The lack of clear enforcement guidance will result in importersNot knowing what to do exacerbates the risk of supply chain disruption.
Customs can directly seize goods
In December 2021, US President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) to prevent Xinjiang goods from flowing into the US market. The “Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Act” includes a system with the core concept of “rebuttable presumption”, which means that unless certified by the U.S. authorities as being free of forced labor, all products manufactured in Xinjiang will be presumed to have used forced labor and Import prohibited. The “Law on the Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor” clearly states that the “rebuttable presumption” clause will officially take effect on June 21, 180 days after the promulgation of the bill.
The Acting Executive Director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Act” Enforcement Task Force said that Customs has currently increased the corresponding budget for the implementation of the act and is preparing to implement it on June 21. The executive director said that the threshold for importers to obtain forced labor-free certification is very high, and they need to provide clear and convincing evidence to prove that the entire supply chain of imported goods does not contain forced labor components, and any forced labor-free certification must Approved by the Commissioner of Customs and reported to Congress. If the relevant evidence provided is found to be fraudulent, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will impose corresponding penalties on the importer. In addition, the executive director said that importers can choose to transfer suspected prohibited related goods back to the country of origin.
Starting from June 2022, the U.S. Customs will strengthen inspections of cotton products imported from China. Regardless of the trade terms (LDP/FOB/CIF, etc.), the customs can directly seize the goods. Due to disagreements at the top levels and the risk of being attacked by Republicans for being “soft on China,” the Biden administration will still create obstacles to Chinese imports.
The U.S. government’s ban not only has a certain impact on my country’s cotton spinning industry, but also puts the U.S. domestic textile industry at great risk. U.S. retailer Dillard’s Co. said the U.S. government’s “temporary order” will affect the global supply chain, including the company’s cotton-containing products. Legislation that comprehensively blocks imports from Xinjiang could lead to higher commodity costs and hit corporate profits.
The United States thought it could use this bill as a “big stick” to sanction China, but facts have proven that it will definitely hit the “iron plate”. The lies concocted by a few Western politicians that there are “human rights issues” in Xinjiang cannot cover up the facts. the truth. For a long time, the United States has violated human rights under the banner of “maintaining human rights” and violated rules under the slogan of “maintaining rules”. In the end, it will inevitably suffer the consequences. As time goes by, such dramas promoted by the United States will seriously damage the interests of domestic companies and consumers and overdraft the national credibility of the United States.
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