Source: Global Times-Global Network
[Global Times-Global Network reporter Fan Lingzhi and Liu Xin] US President Biden signed the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" (The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act) on the 23rd local time, Make it official. The bill would ban Xinjiang products from being imported into the United States unless companies can provide "clear and convincing evidence" that the products are not made with so-called "forced labor." Many scholars and professionals pointed out in an interview with a reporter from " Global Times " on the 24th that because the United States has lowered the threshold and expanded the scope of sanctions, the bill will potentially affect China's entire industrial chain's exports to the world. At the same time, the bill's The enforcement difficulties and "compliance" costs faced during the implementation process, as well as the disruption to the supply chain, are likely to make American companies feel that it is too extreme, thus generating opposition. As for how China can effectively counterattack? Experts believe that in the face of the malicious suppression by the United States, we should consider filing lawsuits and establishing a long-term and effective countermeasures based on rules. At the same time, we should maintain our composure. We should respond rationally to the decoupling of the United States. "
How evil is the so-called "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law" signed by the United States?
In fact, the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" has been in operation in the U.S. Congress for nearly half a year before it was finally released. On July 14, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act". On December 8, The U.S. House of Representatives passed the House version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. After that, the two houses of the United States coordinated the two bills to form a unified text. On December 14 and December 16, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate passed this unified text respectively, eventually forming the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Act", which was then handed over to Biden to sign and officially take effect.
It is worth noting that one of the core concepts contained in the "Law on the Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor" is the "rebuttable presumption" rule. This means that unless certified by the U.S. authorities as “no forced labor,” it will be presumed that all products manufactured in Xinjiang have used “forced labor,” and therefore the import of these products will be prohibited in accordance with the 1930 Tariff Act. . According to the content of the bill, the "rebuttable presumption" rule will be implemented 180 days after the bill takes effect.
Republican Senator Rubio, who mainly promoted the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Act" in the US Congress, issued a statement after the bill was signed into law, saying that this law is the first step in the United States to pursue China's use of "forced labor" so far. “the most important and impactful action” taken.
"People may think that after the bill takes effect, only products from Xinjiang will not be exported to the United States. That is not the case. Its impact will be much wider." AllBright Law Firm, which specializes in international trade law and WTO legal affairs Li Ye, senior partner of , told a reporter from the Global Times on the 24th that so far, this bill is definitely the most drastic measure taken by the United States under the pretext of so-called "forced labor". There are two main reasons.
"First of all, the 'threshold' has been lowered." Li Ye told the Global Times reporter that there is no "rebuttable presumption" in the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930, which has led to the fact that U.S. Customs enforcement has always followed the No, "When the product arrives in the United States and the container is opened, how do they know about this product?" How is it produced? So although the United States has long had legislation against forced labor, there are very few actual law enforcement activities. "Li Ye said that the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law" was signed into force this time. Inverting the burden of proof for and to the importer, the importer's burden of proof cannot be increased. As a result, the enforcement threshold of U.S. Customs has been greatly lowered.
Li Ye said that in addition to lowering the threshold, the scope of sanctions in this bill has also been greatly expanded. First of all, all products from Xinjiang, as well as products under some government assistance projects, are within the scope of sanctions.In addition, for the entire industrial chain in China, even the most basic raw materials, as long as they contain Xinjiang ingredients, will be affected. "In other words, this bill will not only affect products from Xinjiang, but also products from China." Products, even products sold by China to third countries, used by third countries to make downstream products, and then sold to the United States will also be affected, so the potential impact of this bill It has affected China's entire industrial chain's exports to the world."
In response to the signing of the bill, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 24th, saying that the case ignored the truth, maliciously slandered the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang, and seriously violated international law and international relations. Basic norms and gross interference in China's internal affairs. China expresses strong indignation and firm opposition to this. China is telling the United States that using Xinjiang-related issues to engage in conspiracy and conspiracy will not stop the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang from pursuing a better life, nor will it stop China from growing stronger. The U.S.'s actions completely violate market rules and business ethics. They will only undermine the stability of the global industrial and supply chains, disrupt the international trade order, and harm the U.S.'s own interests and national credibility. It is simply shooting itself in the foot.
Which Chinese companies are most at risk? Professional organizations have summarized seven categories!
So, which Chinese companies face the greatest risks? Li Ye's team combined the newly introduced "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" and classified Chinese companies into seven categories according to risk from high to low. The first among them are "already in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) temporary Industrial enterprises within the scope of the detention order include cotton, tomatoes, silicon materials and downstream industries. "The following enterprises are: products named in the enforcement strategy document of the "forced labor" enforcement working group. industries or companies; companies that are not named, but have large exports to the U.S. market, and whose supply chains include purchases from Xinjiang; companies that are not named, but have large exports to the U.S. market, and whose supply chains do not purchase from Xinjiang ; Although they do not export to the United States, they have large exports to third countries, and their supply chains include companies that purchase from Xinjiang; Although they do not export to the United States, they do have large exports to third countries, and their supply chains do not purchase from Xinjiang. The "Global Times" reporter noticed that the above-mentioned companies need corresponding supply chain management and product traceability to prove that products exported to the United States do not contain Xinjiang ingredients, but only those products with small exports or exported to third countries do not need to For Chinese companies exporting to the United States, the risk is minimal. The impact related to
has actually been revealed before the bill was signed. In a recent open letter to its suppliers, Intel Corporation of the United States stated: "Our investors and customers have asked Intel whether it purchases products from the Xinjiang region of China. or services. Governments in many countries and regions have imposed restrictions on products from the Xinjiang region. Therefore, Intel needs to ensure that our supply chain does not use any labor, procurement products or services from the Xinjiang region.” This open letter immediately caused an uproar in public opinion. Under pressure, Intel issued a letter of apology on the 23rd. In addition, according to media reports on the 23rd, many consumers said that when they opened the " Sam's Club " APP search bar and entered the word "Xinjiang", "Xinjiang Hami Melon", "Xinjiang Hotan Red Dates" and " Xinjiang Apricot" appeared. " and other keywords containing "Xinjiang" to choose from, but after actually searching for "Xinjiang", I got the result of "Sorry, no related products were found".
Zhu Ying believes that if this is the case, then after the bill is signed, the scope of US administrative enforcement has far exceeded the scope of the law, and what is now presented is a very generalized handling procedure and method. In other words, the United States really wants to use "forced labor" as an excuse to attack China's Xinjiang products and major industrial chains.
The bill was signed just before Christmas in the West. However, Wang Jiang believes that the signing time is not actually the most important, because the United States is forcing American companies to "undeclared war": "Intel claims it is for However, when he issued an announcement claiming to exclude all Xinjiang products, Biden had not yet signed the bill.Although Intel claims to be a multinational enterprise and maintains a neutral stance, the objective reality is that it is helping the US government to wave the flag and create public opinion.
Wang Jiang also said that more attention should be paid to the " sunset clause " in the bill. The expiration time of the bill is 8 years, calculated according to the U.S. election cycle. Ted Cruz, the Republican senator who previously promoted the bill, has just announced its intention to run for the Republican presidential nomination again, so in the future, some American politicians like Cruz who are trying to gain popularity in the election are likely to continue to use this to hype
html. 4" Those who propose the bill hope that China and the United States will decouple, and we should respond rationally"
Can this bill really be implemented as the United States wishes? Can companies meet the "compliance standards"? Even if they can, how much "compliance" will they have to pay? This is a big question mark. "Take the previous photovoltaic industry as an example, I have seen it with my own eyes. How hard my clients go to be 'compliant'. "Li Ye said that the American Photovoltaic Association previously released a "Solar Supply Chain Traceability Agreement 1.0" to tell companies how to prove that photovoltaic modules shipped to the United States do not contain silicon materials from Xinjiang. This has changed the entire industry standard, "because The supply chain is very long, from quartz sand to silicon materials, to silicon wafers , batteries, and components. There are at least four or five links in the middle that pass through different factories. To what extent does it need to be traced back in the end? There is a barcode on each photovoltaic module, and each barcode can be traced back to which batch the silicon material was produced! It is particularly cumbersome, so the cost of ‘compliance’ is imposed on American importers and users, and it also poses a very big challenge to Chinese exporters. "
In response to the vicious tactics used by the United States, some netizens called for adding Xinjiang elements to some essential and irreplaceable products exported from China to the United States, so that Americans can "shoot themselves in the foot." This method Is it feasible? Zhu Ying believes that although this sounds like a way to "resolve hatred" However, it is also possible that all China's industrial chains will be targeted. Li Ye also has reservations about this: "Taking such extreme countermeasures may achieve certain results in the short term, but it will definitely not be effective in the long term. It is an effective mechanism. Those who propose the bill hope that China and the United States will decouple. We should respond rationally. "
" In an environment where the United States has raised the so-called "forced labor" to the height of "political correctness", it is conceivable that even if American companies disagree, they dare not speak out. " Li Ye said that in fact, it is these silent people who are a very critical force in Sino-US relations and normal trade between the two countries. "The enforcement difficulties and 'compliance' costs faced during the implementation of the bill, as well as the impact on the supply chain, The interference is likely to make American companies feel that this measure is too extreme, thus generating opposition. "
Zhu Ying suggested that we should consider filing a lawsuit at the WTO now, because the United States' actions have undermined the free trade regulations of the WTO and the relevant international treaties. "Although boycotting 'forced labor' is a part of the WTO agreement, It is legal, but we have seen that the United States is amplifying this and using it as a means to crack down on Chinese industries and even allow allies to "choose sides", showing a trend of escalating the trade war. "Zhu Ying also suggested that China should have corresponding plans and consider promulgating a law to protect Xinjiang products and industrial chains as soon as possible, and punish entities that illegally boycott Xinjiang products accordingly.
"We must have a set of rules-based laws. , long-term and effective countermeasures. Li Ye told the "Global Times" reporter that, for example, the specific enforcement of the U.S. ban on the import of "forced labor" products is the responsibility of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and its subordinate trade remedy law enforcement department is responsible for forced labor law enforcement, including a dedicated "forced labor" department. The Labor Division handles complaints and enforcement investigations regarding forced labor, including complaints, investigations, enforcement actions, adjudication of applications to modify or revoke withholding orders, coordination of civil penalties and referrals for criminal investigations, and publication of information on forced labor. rulings, etc.In addition, there are other departments involved in supporting the investigation of forced labor cases, including the Trade Intelligence Unit, Centers of Excellence and Expertise, frontline staff, etc. U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses all law enforcement tools to investigate forced labor cases. "Previously, China introduced the " Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law ". Next, we may consider how to put the legal provisions into law enforcement practice, such as setting up specialized law enforcement agencies to integrate complaints, investigations, rulings, measure implementation, procedural guarantees, etc." A series of procedures have been streamlined to form a long-term countermeasure.”htm. l1
Li Ye emphasized that such countermeasures must be based on rules and establish clear substantive standards and procedures, rather than based on national sentiments. “According to our country’s laws, if some companies implement or assist in the implementation of foreign governments’ actions against China, If the company imposes sanctions, the Chinese government has the right to put them on the sanctions list."
