Broad Action on Xinjiang Region Forced Labor Still Being Considered as CBP Issues 5 WROs

Four companies and a “training center” in the Xinjiang region of China will be subject to withhold release orders, CBP said Sept. 14. Despite some expectations otherwise (see 2009090053), the new WROs don't apply to Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which would have amounted to a more “regional” approach by the agency. CBP is still looking at broader restrictions on cotton, textile and tomato products from the region under a WRO, but is undertaking further “legal analysis” on the issue, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kenneth Cuccinelli said during a call with reporters.

The company-specific detention orders apply to hair products made in the Lop County Hair Product Industrial Park; apparel made by Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co., Ltd; cotton produced and processed by Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co., Ltd.; and computer parts made by Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co., Ltd. The fifth WRO applies to all products made with labor from the Lop County No. 4 Vocational Skills Education and Training Center. Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said during the call that these forced labor actions won't be the last that CBP takes. The hair products and training center WROs are dated Aug. 25, the apparel WRO is dated Sept. 3, and the cotton and computer parts WROs are dated Sept. 8, according to CBP's list of WROs.

Asked about the shift in plans for a regional WRO, Cuccinelli said CBP hadn't previously issued a regional order for China and the government is gathering more evidence in order to have a more “thorough” analysis that could withstand expected legal challenges. Morgan said CBP's standard is for “reasonable suspicion” of forced labor and the agency is “getting more fidelity, going back from an investigative standpoint” to make sure it meets that standard “specific to XPCC.” That same reasonableness standard applies whether it's a company or a region involved, Cuccinelli said.

CBP is still “pressing forward with our investigative pursuit of these WROs,” Morgan said. “At the end of the day, CBP will take our enforcement action based on whether we've met the legal burden or not. That's ultimately what will drive what actions we take.” The “regional WRO” would target “types of products” and “what we're looking at now are cotton and textiles” and “tomato products,” Cuccinelli said.

The government is “working on advancing the technology to trace even indirectly where a product like this comes from,” Cuccinelli said. Companies that hope to do business with the U.S. “should know the day will come in the not too distant future” when CBP can detect products “that aren't being shipped, say, from Xinjiang, but are used by others to make their own products,” he said.