On March 1, 2024, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published President Biden’s 2024 Trade Policy Agenda and 2023 Annual Report. This year’s agenda aims to further the cause of worker-centered trade policy, enhance the resilience of supply chains, and promote fair and sustainable trade practices. Below is a summary of
Forced Labor
Chinese Silicon Producer Challenges Forced Labor Finding at U.S. Court of International Trade
On February 20, 2024, Hoshine Silicon (Jia Xing) Industry Co., Ltd. (“Jiaxing Hoshine”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., filed a complaint at the United States Court of International Trade (USCIT) challenging the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) June 2021 decision to issue a withhold release order (WRO) against Hoshine…
How Misaligned Commitments on Social Issues Create Risks for Your Company
The “S” in “ESG” (environmental, social, and governance) includes an extensive list of factors like workplace culture; environmental justice; health and safety; policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion; labor standards; data privacy; human rights; racial justice; and product safety. In the past several years, consumers and shareholders have become increasingly focused on company performance in…
USTR Releases Supplemental Multiagency Business Advisory on Burma
On January 26, 2024, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a Supplemental Business Advisory highlighting continued risks and exposure of doing business in Burma. In January 2022, the U.S. Departments of State, the Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security, Labor and the USTR first published a business advisory on heightened risk of doing business…
DHS Updates UFLPA Entity List with Three Chinese Entities
Pursuant to a Federal Register Notice posted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), effective December 11, 2023, three entities have been added to the UFLPA Entity List. These entities have been identified by DHS as entities working with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive…
DHS Adds Three Xinjiang Entities to UFLPA List
On September 26, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security added three entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Act (UFLPA) List as a result of each entity’s work with the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor or Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups…
DHS Adds to UFLPA Entity List and Releases Updated Strategy to Prevent Importation of Goods Produced with Forced Labor in China
On August 1, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced new actions to eliminate the use of forced labor practices in the U.S. supply chain by adding two China (PRC)-based companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List due to their participation in business practices involving Uyghur minorities in the Xinjiang…
BIS Releases Human Rights FAQs for Export License Applications
On March 30, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security released a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding human rights concerns and export controls. The FAQs address BIS’ authority under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to consider human rights concerns when reviewing export license applications, and states that exporters “are expected…
Summit for Democracy Subscribing States Issues Voluntary Code of Conduct for Export Controls and Human Rights
In December 2021, the United States, Australia, Denmark and Norway announced the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative to address export controls and human rights particularly in the area of misuse of certain advanced technologies by authoritarian governments for surveillance and human rights abuses. See Update of December 14, 2021. Since that meeting, the…
BIS Amends EAR to Explicitly Include Protection of Human Rights, Adds 11 Entities to Entity List
On March 28, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to confirm that the foreign policy interest of protecting human rights worldwide is a basis for adding entities to the Entity List. Specifically, this Final Rule amends 15 C.F.R. § 744.11 of the EAR regarding…