CBP Hasn't Seized Any Detained Solar Panel Shipments Under UFLPA So Far, Says Agency

A recent report by Reuters, which detailed how CBP detained 1,053 shipments related to solar panels over four months ended Oct. 25, drew an angry response from China and a warning from a customs lawyer whose firm is helping companies deal with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which took effect June 21 (see 2206210022).

CBP said that as of September it targeted 1,452 entries valued at $429 million under UFLPA (see 2209270029); not every one of those entries would have been detained. According to Reuters, Trina, LONGi and Jinko are the manufacturers whose solar energy-producing goods are under detention due to UFLPA; LONGi and Trina didn't respond to Reuters reporters seeking comments, while Jinko said it expected to be able to get a release. One-third of all solar panel imports are from those three firms, Reuters reported.

Asked about the story, a CBP spokesperson said it "has not performed any seizures of any solar equipment under the UFLPA." While some of the information was a result of a public records request from Reuters, CBP didn't provide the names of the manufacturers. The agency also declined to comment "on leaked information."

Solar panels were already under scrutiny, with a withhold release order against silicon from Hoshine issued a year before the UFLPA passed (see 2106240062). At that time, CBP said $150 million a year worth of products made with Hoshine inputs were arriving in the U.S. In March, Trina said it was able to get some of its panels released (see 2203070040) after proving Hoshine materials were not in its supply chain. But the UFLPA standard of evidence is higher, and so far, no goods that have a link to Xinjiang have been released (see 2209300050).

In response to the story, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a regularly scheduled press conference on Nov. 11, according to an English translation of a transcript: "The malicious legislation the US has promulgated and enforced on Xinjiang based on this lie has seriously disrupted the normal trade in photovoltaic products between China and the US, violated the market laws and international economic and trade rules, and undermined the stability of the global photovoltaic industrial and supply chains as well as the global action on climate change."

Sidley Austin Lawyer Ted Murphy wrote that other importers can see that when CBP turns its attention to a given industry for forced labor enforcement, shipments stop. "Companies not involved in the solar industry should take this as a bit of a warning," he said. "So far (in our experience), CBP’s enforcement attention has been aimed primarily at the ‘high-priority sectors’ identified in the UFLPA. The question is where does that attention go next?"

He said if you import a good that is not described as a high-priority sector in UFLPA, but has been highlighted either in non-profit watchdogs' reports or in the news as tainted by Xinjiang forced labor, you need to be prepared.

"Companies who import articles in these sectors need to be prepared to submit clear and complete documentation to CBP immediately upon detention. If an industry like solar, which was subject to a WRO beginning in June 2021 and is specifically called out in UFLPA (so was likely among the best prepared), is still having to wait months to get shipments released, it means that the review process may not be quick (although, we have had some non-high-priority sector UFLPA detentions resolve in a matter of weeks). The best way to expedite a review by CBP is to provide clear and complete documentation that traces the origin of the parts/components/materials of concern."