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Today, Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, urging Secretary Mayorkas to take immediate action to strengthen enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Recent reports reveal that companies across the People’s Republic of China (PRC) profiting from Uyghur forced labor have not yet been added to the UFLPA Entity List; that there has been a failure to fully prosecute or otherwise deter transshipment of forced labor goods through third countries; and that PRC companies are increasingly using the de minimis provision to ship forced-labor goods into the United States. These reports call into question the effective enforcement of the UFLPA.
In the letter, Chairman Gallagher and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi call on DHS to take the following steps:
- Aggressively step up enforcement of potential UFLPA violations by goods shipped from the PRC and indirectly through third countries. These measures should include:
- Adding companies outside the PRC that profit from the use of Uyghur forced labor to the UFLPA Entity List
- Exponentially increasing testing of goods at ports of entry for UFLPA violations
- Better publicizing CBP’s enforcement activities to deter would-be violators
- Enhance collaboration between DHS and other federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice, to better prosecute and assess penalties against UFLPA violators
- Appoint a top-level political official at DHS with the mandate to lead and coordinate its UFLPA enforcement efforts
- Assess the potential effect on UFLPA enforcement of altering de minimis eligibility for textile and apparel and other high-risk items, including determining whether exceptions to de minimis treatment are warranted for certain high-risk items to prevent unlawful importations.
Chairman Gallagher and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi write, in part, “We believe that several factors seriously undermine the effective enforcement of the UFLPA. The first of these is that companies transfer forced laborers from the XUAR to other regions in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), complicating DHS enforcement of the presumptive ban on forced labor products from the XUAR. Thus, there is an urgent need to expand the UFLPA Entity List to include numerous companies and entities located outside the XUAR because of the affiliation to companies and entities in the region, particularly those involved in the seafood, gold, and critical minerals industries.”
They add, “A second factor undermining enforcement of the UFLPA is Beijing’s increased transshipment of forced labor products to the United States through third countries, including U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) partners. Without the deterrent effect of substantially increased levels of legal actions against trade crime perpetrators, companies will continue violating the UFLPA at will.”
The lawmakers request a written response to the questions posed in the letter by March 1, 2024.
Click HERE to view the letter.
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