June 03, 2022
Enforcement of Xinjiang Import Ban to Begin June 21
Promo importers must ensure none of their supply chain runs through the region of China where U.S. authorities say forced labor and genocide is occurring, or risk not being able to bring their products into the U.S.
U.S. Customs & Border Protection will begin enforcing a ban on imports from China’s Xinjiang region starting on June 21, officials have announced.
Companies in the promotional products market and other industries will have to ensure no products, materials or other inputs they’re trying to import come from Xinjiang, or risk not being able to bring the goods stateside.
The enforcement phase begins after President Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law in late December 2021. Prior to that, the legislation received bipartisan support in Congress.
The law essentially prohibits all imports from Xinjiang due to concerns that Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups primarily of the Muslim faith are being pressed into forced labor in the sprawling region of northwestern China. Officials in the U.S. and other nations have labeled China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide. China vehemently denies wrongdoing.
The law allows for exemptions, meaning if an importer can definitively prove no forced labor or other human rights abuses were committed, then products they want to bring to the U.S. from Xinjiang could enter. Still, the burden of proof will be high and must be granted by CBP’s commissioner and reported to Congress.
“It’s important to know that the level of evidence that’s going be required by the Uyghur act is very high,” said Elva Muneton, CBP’s acting executive director for the UFLPA Implementation Task Force. “It’s going to require documentation, clear and convincing evidence, that the supply chain of the product that's being imported is free from forced labor.”
According to CBP, importers will be able to re-export banned cargo back to the country of origin. Importers found to have committed fraud in an effort to bring Xinjiang-made items into the United States will face fines.
“The expectation is that we will be ready to implement the Uyghur act on June 21, and that we have the resources,” Muneton said in a webinar on enforcing the law. “So, the question is, are we ready to implement? Yes, we are.”