Article by: Rick Walker, Vice President, LCB, CCS

GSP Renewal

The trade community was certainly disappointed when Congress failed to include a retroactive GSP renewal in the Omnibus bill which passed in December 2022. GSP has now been expired since December 31, 2020, and according to the Coalition for GSP, the direct cost to American companies is as high as $2.6 billion. While renewal is not imminent, Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden said yesterday that he recognizes the importance of renewing GSP but was evasive about how exactly that would be done. He did say that he thought a resolution would come sooner rather than later. Let’s hope he is correct.

Forced Labor

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021. It establishes a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, or produced by certain entities, is prohibited by Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and that such goods, wares, articles, and merchandise are not entitled to entry to the United States. The UFLPA prohibits the importation of goods made with child or forced labor and focuses primarily on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China. For information you can visit CBP’s website page which contains a great deal of information relating to forced labor.

Maersk Line issued an advisory on January 31, 2023, advising the trade that CBP has begun issuing detention notices against aluminum products under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). In the advisory, it was stated that CBP has recently initiated enforcement efforts against aluminum products and will most likely focus on aluminum automotive commodities and other commodities classified in Chapter 76 (Aluminum and articles thereof).

Companies importing aluminum products, or commodities with aluminum components, should be proactive in ensuring compliance with the UFLPA. This may include conducting due diligence on their supply chain and implementing compliance programs.

Please contact your V. Alexander account team, or you may also contact our Trade Compliance team at tradeinsights@valexander.com with any questions.