Unpacking the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

In response to allegations of forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued new guidance in June 2022 that introduced an unprecedented “rebuttable presumption” that all foreign goods mined, farmed, manufactured, or processed wholly or in part XUAR cannot be imported into the U.S. The presumption applies unless the CBP determines that the importer of record has complied with specified conditions and, by “clear and convincing evidence”, that the goods, wares, articles, or merchandise were not produced using forced labor.

The UFLPA has created significant anxiety among members of the trade community, because of uncertainty about the scope of imports that may become targeted for UFLPA scrutiny and enforcement measures. The new law is significantly broader in scope than previous U.S. import measures that targeted forced labor. It also has created unprecedented challenges for importers and their suppliers as they must now exercise exacting due diligence and trace their supply chains all the way back to the raw materials.

In this webinar, an expert panel will discuss the UFLPA’s requirements, CBP’s implementation and enforcement, best practices for business compliance, and the law’s implications for international trade.

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PANELISTS

Augustine Lo, Senior Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Augustine advises clients on international trade and national security issues for cross-border transactions, including U.S. customs and international trade law, economic sanctions, export controls, and U.S. Government review of foreign investments. With experience in state and federal court litigation in New York and Seattle, Augustine protects clients’ interests in government enforcement actions and international trade proceedings. Proficient in Mandarin Chinese, he also counsels clients on matters relating to East Asia.

Before relocating to Dorsey’s Seattle office, Augustine was at the firm’s New York office representing corporate clients in commercial disputes, including a major Chinese bank. He previously worked as an enforcement attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel at CBP Headquarters. Augustine also served previously as a judicial clerk at the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico.

Ted Henderson, Director Customs, The United States, Expeditors

Ted is responsible for the strategy, structure, and operations for Expeditors’ U.S. Customs product. Ted has over 30 years of experience in the field of international trade compliance and over his career has been responsible for a number of areas and initiatives, including Customs brokerage, global trade compliance, government-business supply chain security programs and U.S. Foreign Trade Zones. Prior to joining the customs brokerage/freight forwarding service industry, Ted was the corporate Customs Compliance manager for a hi-tech company, and he started in the industry as an Import Specialist with the U.S. Customs Service. He is a licensed U.S. Customs broker, a graduate of the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, and a U.S. Army veteran.

MODERATOR

Nelson Dong, Partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Nelson also heads Dorsey and Whitney’s National Security Law Group and is co-head of its Asia Group. He advises companies, professional societies, universities and research organizations on export controls, economic sanctions, national security and international trade and investment matters. He is an author and teacher on international technology law issues and has been an adjunct professor of international law at the Seattle University Law School and a guest lecturer at the University of Washington Law School.

Nelson was a White House Fellow and U.S. Department of Justice official in the Carter Administration responsible for international and national security matters regarding U.S. relations with the former Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China and Iran, and he also served as a federal prosecutor in Boston. He has twice been appointed to the U.S. Commerce Department’s President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration, its highest industry advisory body on U.S. export control policy.

Nelson is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, a director of the Washington State China Relations Council in Seattle, and an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Committee of 100. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations for over 10 years. Nelson is a graduate of Stanford University and the Yale Law School and has served as a trustee of Stanford University.