Santos Quoted on Aggressive US Enforcement of Ban on Goods Made With Forced Labor

International Trade Today
Partner Angela Santos discussed the differences between Canada and the US in enforcing the ban on goods made with forced labor, noting that the US has been more aggressive in its approach.

Angela said that last year, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had examined nearly 1,500 shipments of goods, worth about $400 million, that were under suspicion of forced labor. However, since October 2022, CBP has examined 2,739 shipments valued at $925 million, resulting in 417 denied entries and about 1,300 awaiting a decision.

Angela added that the scope of detentions has expanded beyond cotton, tomatoes, and polysilicon to include products like PVC flooring, batteries, steel, and aluminum. The CBP uses an internal database of manufacturer IDs linked to Xinjiang and employs artificial intelligence (AI) to track shipments from Xinjiang to other regions in China or other countries. Angela explained that forced labor practitioners have seen goods detained where less than 1% of the apparel’s content was suspected to have originated in Xinjiang.

“Significantly and importantly there is no de minimis threshold,” she said.

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