Chinese imports are now the focus of a new campaign by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Suspicion of the use of forced labor led to the seizure of products from three Chinese enterprises.
Customs has barred imports from three companies, including a supplier to Western apparel companies, that the agency says could be using North Korean forced labor https://t.co/PQq4Lwy3xl
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 27, 2022
On December 27, CBP declared it was seizing goods from three Chinese businesses who are accused of utilizing North Korean labor in their supply lines. The shipments were headed to the US. Tight limits on imports connected to North Korea are in place thanks to a sanctions law passed by the former president Donald Trump, but China, the world’s largest exporter, nevertheless has strong economic ties to the despotic regime.
The dysfunctional economy of North Korea doesn’t create much, and what it does generate is often made by conscripted laborers who don’t always get paid. The proceeds from the export of these products go toward supporting the Pyongyang dictatorship and its armed forces.
Unless the importer can demonstrate otherwise within 30 days of seizure, CBP is required by the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to assume that any products “mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part” by North Korean nationals entail forced labor. Now, if the three businesses—Rixin Foods Ltd, Jingde Trading Ltd, and Zhejiang Sunrise Garment Group Co Ltd—wish to have their goods released, they must present that proof.
