Forced Labor Crackdown: Upcoming Supply Chain Chaos

manman01
RECSI 04.06.2022 kl 01:06 13164

US Crackdown on Forced Labor in China Risks Further Supply Chaos
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-03/us-crackdown-on-forced-labor-in-china-risks-further-supply-chaos
JUNE 3, 2022
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Pandemic and war have upended American supply chains. The next shock may come from the US campaign against human-rights abuses in China.

A law due to take effect June 21 will bar imported goods partly or wholly made in the Chinese manufacturing hub of Xinjiang -- unless companies can prove the products have no ties to forced labor. Passed unanimously by Congress, and with strong support from unions and activists, it aims to make sure that there’s no place in the US economy for merchandise made by workers languishing in detention camps.

Unusually, with the deadline less than three weeks away, the US government isn’t giving business much of a heads-up about how the measure will be enforced. At a Customs briefing on Wednesday, the message was essentially: Wait and see. That means nobody really knows how big a chunk of America’s $500 billion-plus in annual imports from China could get ensnared.
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U.S. Bans Imports of Some Chinese Solar Materials Tied to Forced Labor
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/business/economy/china-forced-labor-solar.html
JUNE 24, 2021

Solar industry position on anti-forced labor law draws scrutiny
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/solar-industry-position-on-anti-forced-labor-law-draws-scrutiny-69418269
MARCH 23, 2022

Solar companies submit strategy comments on Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/03/solar-companies-submit-strategy-comments-on-uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act/
MARCH 14, 2022

US Ban on Xinjiang Imports to ’Seriously Disrupt’ Ties
https://www.tradingview.com/news/mtnewswires.com:20220603:G2131707:0-us-ban-on-xinjiang-imports-to-seriously-disrupt-ties/
JUNE 3, 2022

Companies Prepare for the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/companies-prepare-for-the-uyghur-forced-7127061/
JANUARY 19, 2022

Supply Chains Widely Tainted by Forced Labor in China, Panel Is Told
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/08/business/economy/china-forced-labor.html
APRIL 8, 2022
Redigert 04.06.2022 kl 02:04 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
04.06.2022 kl 01:08 13163

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA?language_content_entity=en

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The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2021.

It establishes a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, or produced by certain entities, is prohibited by Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and that such goods, wares, articles, and merchandise are not entitled to entry to the United States. The presumption applies unless the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (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 also requires the interagency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and Director of National Intelligence, to develop and submit to Congress a strategy for supporting CBP’s enforcement of Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to goods, wares, articles, and merchandise produced with forced labor in the People’s Republic of China.

Upcoming Webinars
CBP's Office of Trade Relations will host webinars on June 1, 7, and 16, 2022, to provide an overview of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

Wednesday, June 1, 2022, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. EDT

Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EDT - Registration

Thursday, June 16, 2022, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT - Registration
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manman01
04.06.2022 kl 01:08 13151

Reserveret
Redigert 14.06.2022 kl 19:17 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
14.06.2022 kl 19:19 12270

U.S. Customs Releases Importer Guidance for Forthcoming Implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
https://www.wiley.law/alert-US-Customs-Releases-Importer-Guidance-for-Forthcoming-Implementation-of-the-Uyghur-Forced-Labor-Prevention-Act
JUNE 14, 2022
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On June 13, 2022, U.C. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released highly anticipated guidance regarding the forthcoming implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which will go into effect on June 21, 2022. CBP’s newly released guidance provides importers with:

- an overview of how CBP will process detentions, exclusions, and seizures of imported goods under UFLPA;

- an overview of the types of evidence that CBP will expect importers to provide in order to overcome UFLPA’s rebuttable presumption regarding forced labor usage;

- guidance relevant to the enforcement of the UFLPA with respect to cotton/apparel, tomato, and polysilicon products that are currently covered by existing Withhold Release Orders (WROs) under 19 U.S.C. § 1307.

Passed last December, the UFLPA amends 19 U.S.C. § 1307 (Section 307 of the Trade Act of 1930), a federal statute prohibiting the importation of goods made in whole or in part with forced labor, to reflect a rebuttable presumption that forced labor (and therefore the import prohibition) affects all goods made in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) or in whole or in part by entities that enable the use of forced Uyghur labor. This presumption can only be rebutted by “clear and convincing evidence.”

The UFLPA directed an intergovernmental Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) to develop guidance for importers, including a list of companies/entities using forced labor in the XUAR or enabling the use of Uyghur forced labor. That guidance is due to be released on June 21, the same date that UFLPA itself goes into effect.

CBP’s newly released guidance explains that the agency’s administration of detentions, exclusions, and seizures under UFLPA will vary somewhat from its practice under the pre-amendment 19 U.S.C. § 1307. Prior to the UFLPA, Section 1307 was mainly implemented through CBP’s issuance of WROs upon receiving information that created a reasonable suspicion that goods manufactured by a particular company or in a particular region were made with forced labor. Importers whose goods are detained under a WRO typically have 90 days in which to either export the goods or present evidence sufficient to allow CBP to conclude that no forced labor was used in producing the merchandise. However, importers whose goods are detained under UFPLA will have 30 days to present clear and convincing evidence that the detained goods were not made, in whole or in part, in the XUAR/with forced Uyghur labor.
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manman01
14.06.2022 kl 19:21 12249

UYGHUR FORCED LABOR PREVENTION ACT
U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE FOR IMPORTERS
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Jun/CBP_Guidance_for_Importers_for_UFLPA_13_June_2022.pdf
JUNE 13, 2022
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Polysilicon:

• Importers need to provide complete records of transactions and supply chain documentation that demonstrate all entities involved in the manufacture, manipulation, or export of a particular good, and the country of origin of each material used in the production of the products going back to the suspected source of forced labor, i.e., production in Xinjiang or by an entity on the UFLPA Strategy entities lists.

• Provide a flow chart mapping each step in the procurement and production of all materials and identify the region where each material in the production originated (e.g., from location of the quartzite used to make polysilicon, to the location of manufacturing facilities producing polysilicon, to the location of facilities producing downstream goods used to make the imported good).

• Provide a list of all entities associated with each step of the production process, with citations denoting the business records used to identify each upstream party with whom the importer did not directly transact.

• Importers should be aware that imports of goods from factories that source polysilicon both from within Xinjiang and outside of Xinjiang risk being subject to detention, as it may be harder to verify that the supply chain is using only non-Xinjiang polysilicon and that the materials have not been replaced by or co-mingled with Xinjiang polysilicon at any point in the manufacturing process.
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Redigert 14.06.2022 kl 19:22 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
15.06.2022 kl 22:37 11559

Beklager bump af AD/CVD tråd - Artiklen her havde passet i mange af tematrådende, og er egentlig en meget god opsummering af nuværende status. Kan varmt anbefale at læse.

Biden halts solar tariffs for two years. What’s next?
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/06/15/biden-halts-solar-tariffs-for-two-years-whats-next/
JUNE 15, 2022
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Other threats to supply

“Unfortunately, there’s still going to be a dip in US deployments this year, versus what most of us would have predicted at the beginning of the year,” said Wormser. “There are ongoing issues with WRO (the Hoshine Withhold Release Order), there are new issues looming with UFLPA (Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act), and even though this particular issue of AD/CVD was ‘solved’ on Monday, it’s substantially towards the middle of the year before we had that solved.”

Wormser said the UFLPA implementation is something to watch in the coming weeks. The act intensifies the burden of proof on importers, as they must prove that their goods must have no connection to the Xinjiang region of China, which has credible allegations of forced labor to the nation’s Uyghur community.

He said that Xinjiang is the “center of gravity” for the world polysilicon supply chain, with a little less than half of the global polysilicon supply coming from the region. However, there is little to no wafer or cell manufacturing in the region, and there has never been a lack of absolute supply of polysilicon globally. China has made numerous announcements to move polysilicon production into other regions, so the UFLPA may not be as disastrous to solar module supply as it first appears.

The WRO has led to the US detaining hundreds of MW of solar modules that were headed for US projects, but Wormser said that this pressure will continue to ease as module suppliers are now aware of what supply chain documentation is needed to clear Customs.


The glut of undelivered products as a result of the triple-threat to US solar trade may take quite some time to reach US project sites. Wormser said the industry may be playing catch-up with this unserved demand into 2024. In the meantime, jobs have been lost, new jobs haven’t been created, and projects have been delayed. While it won’t be an overnight success, the softening of this trade triple-threat over time will lead to a steady supply flowing again, with US jobs and projects following.
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Redigert 15.06.2022 kl 22:39 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
16.06.2022 kl 09:49 11272

EU Parliament again advocates Xinjiang sanctions, menacing solar
https://rethinkresearch.biz/articles/eu-parliament-again-advocates-xinjiang-sanctions-menacing-solar/
JUNE 16, 2022
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..The Green grouping in the EU Parliament supported the anti-forced-labor resolution as much as any, despite the menace it poses to Europe’s supply of photovoltaics. Heidi Hautala MEP, Vice-President of the Parliament and the Greens/EFA member for the Internal Trade and Human Rights Committees, stated that “Under pressure from the Parliament, the Council and the Commission had to withdraw their support for the investment agreement with China. And today, the European Parliament is signaling that it no longer wants the EU to be complicit with the Chinese totalitarian regime, which has been perpetuating a crime against humanity in the Xinjiang province for five years”.

Considering the EU and UK have sanctioned the supply of gas and to some extent oil from Russia, and plan to accelerate solar deployment to 740 GW by 2030 to compensate, it is almost unimaginable that these countries will shut down Chinese solar panel imports entirely in the way that the US’ “rogue” Department of Commerce has just done for two and a half months. There absolutely could however be new attempts at tracing supply chains within China and trying to discriminate between “good Chinese solar” and “bad Chinese solar”.

It will not be easy to trace “bad solar” because polysilicon is the furthest upstream segment of the supply chain, with even the largest players having mismatches in their production capacity on wafers, cells and modules and therefore trading back and forth. The Chinese state has forbidden companies from co-operating with supply chain tracing. An attempt could nonetheless be made as a face-saving exercise, then allowed to gradually peter out without doing too much damage. The EU will leave it to individual nations to apply anti-forced-labor customs actions, which will help.
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Redigert 16.06.2022 kl 09:49 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
17.06.2022 kl 11:09 10942

Solar market braces for new US trade restriction on China
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/solar-market-braces-for-new-us-trade-restriction-on-china-70786972
JUNE 16, 2022
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, on June 21 will begin enforcing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which outlaws products made in China's Xinjiang region unless importers can prove goods were not produced with forced labor. The U.S. government has accused Beijing of persecuting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, and Congress singled out polysilicon, a key ingredient in most solar panels, as one of several sectors requiring high-priority enforcement.

No one outside the U.S. government, however, knows for sure how the embargo will be executed. The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, which is chaired by the Secretary of Homeland Security, is due to release an implementation strategy the same day the law takes effect. That document will include a list of entities that the task force has determined are either making goods in Xinjiang using forced labor or are involved in transferring people from the region to work in other parts of China.

"We believe the period of initial enforcement will be marked by uncertainty, if not chaos," Height Securities LLC, a capital market firm, said June 8 in a research note.
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manman01
17.06.2022 kl 22:45 10528

Delt af fattigstakkar på ugetråden :)
(mange tak!)

EU Parliament passes resolution condemning China’s ‘crimes’ in Xinjiang, calls for import ban
https://www.pv-tech.org/eu-parliament-condemned-human-rights-abuses-chinas-xinjiang-region-urged-import-ban-products-region/
JUNE 17, 2022
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Importantly, the resolution only mentions the Xinjiang autonomous region, rather than other areas of mainland China where allegations of force labour of ethnic groups have been levelled by the EU, suggesting a tighter focus of its proposed sanctions.

In coincides with the upcoming implementation of the US’ Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), signed into law by the Biden Administration in December, and due to take effect on 21 June, when a list of ‘blacklisted’ companies will be released.

Analysts speaking on a ROTH Capital webinar yesterday said Europe would likely look to the impact of the UFLPA in the US and potentially use it to inform its own sanctions regime.

While most wafer, cell and module capacity in China is located outside of Xinjiang, almost half of current polysilicon infrastructure is based in the region, although this is slowly changing with factories increasingly emerging in other regions, such as Inner Mongolia.
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Redigert 17.06.2022 kl 22:46 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
17.06.2022 kl 22:48 10516

The human rights situation in Xinjiang, including the Xinjiang police files
European Parliament resolution of 9 June 2022 on the human rights situation in
Xinjiang, including the Xinjiang police files (2022/2700(RSP))
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0237_EN.pdf
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18. Calls on the Commission to propose an import ban on all products produced by forced
labour and on products produced by all Chinese companies listed as exploiting forced
labour; reiterates its position in favour of an ambitious corporate sustainability due
diligence directive;

:.
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manman01
19.06.2022 kl 18:40 10156

How the US’ Xinjiang labour law has crippled China’s cotton industry before even entering effect
https://amp.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3182177/how-us-xinjiang-labour-law-has-crippled-chinas-cotton
JUNE 19, 2022
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The potential risks have prompted some American companies in the solar industry to pay tens of thousands of dollars for relevant consulting work and traceability audits, noted a supply-chain-traceability expert on condition of anonymity.

In the first quarter of the year, the top export destinations of Chinese solar modules were the Netherlands, India and Brazil, according to a report by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products.

But with European Commission lawmakers also debating a similar ban, the uncertainties swirling within China’s polysilicon industry remain considerable. “European [solar] companies are also really wary of this,” said the traceability expert. “I had a lot of clients say to me, ‘we know we’re not importing into the US, but let’s act like we are, just so we are reaching the highest barriers and hurdles, in terms of regulations, so we know we can comply with that’. Because there might be a chance of something similar happening in the European Union.”


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Redigert 19.06.2022 kl 18:45 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
20.06.2022 kl 13:06 9586

Imorgen kicker denne ind.

Companies brace for chaos as Xinjiang import ban starts in U.S.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/US-China-tensions/Companies-brace-for-chaos-as-Xinjiang-import-ban-starts-in-U.S
JUNE 20, 2022
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HONG KONG -- Manufacturers and retailers are bracing for chaos as U.S. Customs prepares to enforce a ban on imports from China's Xinjiang region from Tuesday in response to reports of forced labor.

Companies are scrambling to gauge how the new rules could affect their business and supply chains with Asian clothing suppliers, international retail chains, U.S. solar-panel makers and Chinese floor-tile material makers among scores of groups that could see U.S. bound shipments seized.

The ban intensifies pressure on Beijing over allegations of widespread human rights violations -- including torture, arbitrary detention and forced labor -- against Muslim Uyghur and other minorities in the country's far western Xinjiang region. China denies the claims and has warned of retaliatory measures.

Signed into law by President Joe Biden at the end of last year, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act presumes that all U.S.-bound imports traced to Xinjiang, from cotton and tomatoes to floor tile and solar panel materials, were made using forced labor and brands them as "high priority" for seizure.

More than 900 shipments from the region were seized in the last quarter of 2021 by American authorities under earlier trade restrictions.

But trade and business groups said the new legislation's vague wording threatens to put the bulk of China's $500 billion in annual shipments bound for the U.S. at risk.

"The way the law is written could be interpreted as applying to other kinds of goods from other parts of China that allegedly involved forced labor at some point along the supply chain," Doug Barry, a senior director at the U.S.-China Business Council, told Nikkei Asia in an email.

There are reports of detainees being moved out of Xinjiang to work in other parts of the country, while components produced in the region have been traced to U.S.-bound exports shipped from elsewhere in China.
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manman01
20.06.2022 kl 16:57 9379

UFLPA implementation strategy could be best-case scenario for solar industry
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/06/20/uflpa-implementation-strategy-could-be-best-case-scenario-for-solar-industry/
JUNE 20, 2022
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While roughly half of the world’s polysilicon does not come from Xinjiang, it is difficult to trace where every single manufacturer gets all of their polysilicon from, and there could be potential for entire factories to be “contaminated” by a relatively small mix of Chinese polysilicon in an otherwise non-Chinese mix.

However, within the released strategy, only three polysilicon suppliers in the region are listed: Xinjiang Daqo New Energy, Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals, and Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material Technology. While these three companies do contribute to the global supply of polysilicon, Christian Roselund, senior policy analyst with Clean Energy associates shared the opinion with pv magazine USA that the outlined strategy can be seen as a best-case scenario for the solar industry, with other companies thought to be at-risk left off the list of banned imports.

“This shows that the entity list is being used in a surgical way, targeting only those suppliers who have already been identified in independent reports, instead of casting a broader net,” he said. “However, we will still have to see what implementation looks like on the ground.”

What still has yet to be seen is the actual action of implementation, as we don’t know how Homeland Security plans to handle the use of polysilicon ingots and wafers manufactured in China and then sent across the globe for use in cell and module production. The mixing of polysilicon from Xinjiang and elsewhere in China is widespread, as Chinese polysilicon factories process both together.
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manman01
20.06.2022 kl 23:44 8966

Solar industry prepares for Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act implementation
https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/06/solar-industry-prepares-for-uyghur-forced-labor-prevention-act-implementation/
JUNE 20, 2022
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The U.S. solar industry is currently facing widespread supply shortages — due to a combination of global supply chain issues, effects of a Dept. of Commerce investigation and WRO detentions. UFLPA implementation may further interrupt supply.

Industry trade groups like SEIA have been working to establish supply chain traceability protocols to assist solar developers and manufacturers in their efforts to use cruelty-free products.

The Department of Homeland Security released a list of companies working in Xinjiang that are known to use forced labor. No down-stream solar companies are listed, but a few polysilicon firms are, including Hoshine, Daqo, GCL and East Hope.

UFLPA is enforceable for eight years, or until the president declares that China has ended “mass internment, forced labor and any other gross violations of human rights … in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”
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manman01
25.06.2022 kl 21:29 8020

Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act takes effect in US, banning imports from Xinjiang
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3182446/uygur-forced-labour-prevention-act-takes-effect-us-banning-imports
JUNE 23, 2022
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Similar prohibitions to Tuesday’s ban are in the works in Australia and the European Union, whose ties with China have deteriorated amid deeper scrutiny of its human rights record, particularly in Xinjiang.

But as long as the US remains the only major market banning goods tied to Xinjiang, rights groups have expressed concern that companies affected by the law may seek to re-export targeted goods to other markets.

“Until and unless such an instrument [in Europe] is enacted, there is risk that the EU, the world’s largest single market, will serve as a dumping ground for goods tainted with forced labour,” the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uygur Region wrote in an open letter to businesses on Tuesday.

As well as banning all goods sourced wholly or partly from Xinjiang, the US customs agency has identified a number of companies from which American importers are prohibited from sourcing goods. The entity list includes both companies with operations in Xinjiang and those based outside of the region that are suspected of having received Uygur labourers through worker transfer schemes.
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manman01
25.06.2022 kl 21:31 8012

U.S. 'rallying' allies against Xinjiang forced labor as import ban begins
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-is-rallying-allies-against-xinjiang-forced-labor-ban-takes-effect-2022-06-21/
JUNE 21, 2022
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"We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labor, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC (People's Republic of China) to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses," Blinken said in a statement.

"Together with our interagency partners, we will continue to engage companies to remind them of U.S. legal obligations," he said.
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manman01
29.06.2022 kl 11:11 7222

Companies braced for chaos as Xinjiang import ban starts in US
https://www.ft.com/content/f205b47a-923e-431d-8d92-eb05ab12f216
JUNE 28, 2022

A Closer Look at the China Forced Labor Enforcement Strategy
https://www.strtrade.com/trade-news-resources/str-trade-report/trade-report/june/a-closer-look-at-the-china-forced-labor-enforcement-strategy
JUNE 27, 2022
manman01
29.06.2022 kl 22:07 6993

Is the U.S. solar industry ready to prove its panels aren’t made with Uyghur forced labor?
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/is-the-u-s-solar-industry-ready-to-4098248/
JUNE 29, 2022
manman01
30.06.2022 kl 13:28 6665

US solar facing fresh shipment delays as UFLPA enforcement raises quartzite queries
https://www.pv-tech.org/us-solar-facing-fresh-shipment-delays-as-uflpa-enforcement-raises-quartzite-queries/
JUNE 29, 2022
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The US solar industry is facing fresh module shipment delays after new import documentation was demanded by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

As part of the country’s new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) enforcement process, CBP is now requesting documentation showing the source of quartzite used in the polysilicon manufacturing process.

A research note issued by Philip Shen of investment bank ROTH Capital Partners has suggested that shipments to the US from Southeast Asia could be delayed by up to 12 months as a result, with module manufacturers said to be lacking documentation of that kind.
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Redigert 30.06.2022 kl 13:29 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
30.06.2022 kl 20:56 6497

ROTH: Customs detains solar module shipment under UFLPA
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/06/30/roth-customs-detains-solar-module-shipment-under-uflpa/
JUNE 30, 2022
manman01
03.07.2022 kl 18:25 6040

Seaver Wang
@wang_seaver
Co-Director of the Climate and Energy Program at
@TheBTI
. 王思維. He/him. Oceanographer turned solution seeker. PhD in Earth and Ocean Sciences. Opinions my own.
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Satellite images show how messed up much of our polysilicon production for solar panels is.

This is GCL-Poly's factory in the Xinjiang region. Powered by 4x660MW coal-fired units next to the plant, sits just 2.5 km from vast coal mines, and exploiting Uyghur forced labor. THREAD
https://twitter.com/wang_seaver/status/1543024226403098624
JULY 2, 2022

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This plant makes 40,000 tons/yr of solar-grade polysilicon, ~5.7% of global total (~700,000 t) in 2021.

The Xinjiang region produced ~1/2 of all solar-grade poly-Si in recent yrs, though that share is falling as new plants are built outside Xinjiang

https://bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-xinjiang-solar/

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A 2021 report revealed that hundreds of Uyghur workers may have been transferred to the GCL-Poly plant via state-sponsored labor programs.

The broader Zhundong industrial zone itself participates in labor exchange programs in the coal mining sector.

https://shu.ac.uk/helena-kennedy-centre-international-justice/research-and-projects/all-projects/in-broad-daylight

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Overall polysilicon plants in Xinjiang are implicated in forced labor in at least 3 ways:
- directly, through on-site workforce at factories
- through coal-fired power (coal mining sector)
- and through raw material suppliers that use laborers to mine, crush, smelt silicon rock:

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This is Xinte Energy Co's factory just north of Urumqi. It too is directly linked to an onsite coal power plant w 2x150MW units. (see bottom right of the 1st image from the Bloomberg article, and center bottom of 2nd image)

Uyghur workers live <1 km from the coal smokestacks.

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Incidentally, just north of this plant, there is a large body of water cryptically called "Reservoir 500", which if I had to guess, probably supplies cooling water and industrial process water to the plant in an entirely ecologically sustainable and responsible manner, I'm sure.

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Zooming out to view the area around the GCL-Poly plant in the Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone, the scars of open pit coal mines are clearly visible.

(this Google Maps imagery is outdated, and doesn't feature the GCL-Poly facility itself)

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(To see satellite imagery of the region for free that is more up-to-date, you can view these coordinates in Maxar's satellite imagery exploration tab.)

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Sure, there are many mining complexes + industrial facilities worldwide that pose environmental + public health hazards, and look nasty both from satellite images and from the ground.

To a degree, there is no such thing as impacts-free mining or energy.

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But scrolling around the desert NE of Urumqi, the dystopian industrial moonscape is on an entirely different lvl. With no mechanisms for local democratic input.

And the mass forced recruitment of local minoritized peoples by the Chinese govt is unique in its organized brutality.

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Workers separated from families, paid low and discriminatory wages, housed in bare dormitories, put through military-style drills and ideological indoctrination, all under the ever-present threat of detainment in the region's concentration camp system.

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Foreign companies in the US, Europe, and elsewhere are complicit.

They have failed to scrutinize solar supply chains for over a decade while funneling investment into and partnering with Chinese manufacturers that drove the expansion of industrial production in Xinjiang.

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Polysilicon is one of the major industries the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the US seeks to address. The EU should follow suit w similar or comparable measures.

And the solar industry must take an overdue look at its upstream supply chain. (END)

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Postscript: here are the Global Energy Monitor coal unit wiki pages for the power units present on the GCL-Poly and Xinte factory grounds:

GCL:
https://gem.wiki/Xinyou_Qitai_power_station

Xinte:
manman01
04.07.2022 kl 20:17 5257

Tak for at dele Culibre :)
manman01
04.07.2022 kl 20:19 5246

Companies Face Compliance Challenges Under U.S. Forced-Labor Law Targeting China
https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-face-compliance-challenges-under-u-s-forced-labor-law-targeting-china-11656937801
JULY 4, 2022
"
..
Companies would likely require “almost courtroom evidence” on the provenance of goods to pass muster, she said, adding she recommends businesses use investigative firms, third-party resources and tactics like live or teleconference visits to check on suppliers.

Dan Feldman, a partner at law firm Covington & Burling LLP, said that while no solution is going to give 100% comfort to a company, making a strong effort to know its supply chains can demonstrate a good-faith commitment to compliance.

U.S. Customs currently has limited resources and, at least at first, will likely seek to focus its enforcement efforts on the “worst actors” in high-profile sectors including cotton, apparel, tomatoes and silica-based products, Mr. Feldman said.

Everyone is in “uncharted territory,” he said. “The government recognizes that, and will hopefully work collaboratively with the business community to address this issue both effectively and pragmatically.”
..
"
manman01
04.07.2022 kl 20:19 5243

Product seized by US authorities under law on forced labor believed to be JinkoSolar
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/07/04/product-seized-by-us-authorities-under-law-on-forced-labor-believed-to-be-jinkosolar/
JULY 4, 2022
"
..
The detained shipment of product seized under the recently-enacted Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), first reported by ROTH Capital Partners, is believed to be product from JinkoSolar, according to reports shared with pv magazine USA by trusted industry sources.

According to the initial Roth note, the detained shipment is being withheld until the vendor provides documentation showing the source of the quartzite, the raw material for making polysilicon, though the vendor at the time was not named.

pv magazine has reached out to Jinko for comment on the detained shipment reports, and will provide said comment once it is received.

If the reports are confirmed, the result could be a much more dire situation than was initially regarded when the Department of Homeland Security Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans released its June 17 strategy for preventing the importation of goods mined or produced using forced labor under the UFLPA.
..
"
manman01
09.07.2022 kl 10:39 4482

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s Regular Press Conference on July 8, 2022
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202207/t20220708_10717764.html
JULY 8, 2022
"
..
China News Service: Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, reportedly said that in 2021, China was home to 79% of the global manufacturing capacity for polysilicon. A full 42% of that is located in Xinjiang. This level of concentration in the global supply chain represents “a considerable vulnerability”. Governments should take necessary measures to diversify their supply chains. What’s China’s comment? 

Zhao Lijian: It is true that China is the world’s largest photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer and has more installed capacity than other countries. Xinjiang is the world’s most important production base of polysilicon, an essential material of the PV industry. This is the result of a combination of factors, including our efforts to meet carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets, technological breakthroughs, effective cost control and the enormous market demand. China’s PV industry contributes significantly to the development of renewable energy worldwide.

It is important to point out that the current vulnerability in the global PV industrial and supply chains mainly stems from the US allegation of “forced labor” in Xinjiang and the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The US is illegally suppressing and unilaterally sanctioning China’s PV industry without justification. This is seriously against the law of the market and WTO rules and detrimental to the international trade order and the stability of global PV industrial and supply chains and global climate response. The US needs to immediately stop spreading lies and stop enforcing this malicious legislation. 
..
"
Ta invest
09.07.2022 kl 10:44 4456

Alt er usa sin feil mener de ja .
fattigstakkar
11.07.2022 kl 23:52 4041

"The new law is of particular concern for the global solar industry, which saw about 50 per cent of the world's supply of polysilicon come from the Xinjiang region in 2021."
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/china-s-supply-chain-gets-hit-after-us-ban-on-imports-from-xinjiang-122071100634_1.html
manman01
13.07.2022 kl 08:16 3618

U.S. lawmakers ask Biden administration why some China solar giants left off slave labor list
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-lawmakers-ask-biden-administration-why-some-china-solar-giants-left-off-slave-2022-07-12/
JULY 13, 2022
"
..
It asks specifically why JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd (JKS.N), Xinte Energy Co Ltd (1799.HK) and Longi Solar (601012.SS) were left off the list even though all three were included in a 2021 report by geopolitical risk consultancy Horizon Advisory that found signs of ties to forced labor in their supply chains.

"We recognize the increasing importance solar energy will assume in reducing future greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change," the letter said. "However, this recognition, along with the relative under-diversification of the solar industry’s supply chain, cannot cause the U.S. to compromise on values as fundamental as our commitment to upholding human rights."

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, CBP and the three companies were not immediately available for comment.

JinkoSolar said in 2021 it condemned the use of forced labor and was committed to doing business ethically and lawfully. It signed a pledge, along with Longi Solar, aimed at ensuring the solar supply chain is free of forced labor. It is not clear whether Xinte Energy has commented publicly on the matter.
"
manman01
13.07.2022 kl 08:18 3609

Congressman Tim Ryan Leads Letter to Biden Administration to Strictly Enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
https://timryan.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-tim-ryan-leads-letter-biden-administration-strictly-enforce-uyghur
JULY 12, 2022
"
..
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-13) today led a group of his House colleagues in urging Christopher Magnus, Commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, to aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and provide Congress with additional information on how the law is being applied to Chinese solar companies.

Joining Congressman Ryan on the letter are Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), Congressman Thomas Suozzi (NY-03), Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02), and Congressman Mike Doyle (PA-18).

“We write to urge you to aggressively enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act,” wrote the lawmakers. “We recognize the increasing importance solar energy will assume in reducing future greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change. However, this recognition, along with the relative under-diversification of the solar industry’s supply chain, cannot cause the U.S. to compromise on values as fundamental as our commitment to upholding human rights.”

The letter can be found here and below:
..
"
BIF78
14.07.2022 kl 20:53 3314

Hej manman01. Ser du Station2 på dansk TV2? Det taler lige ind i det her. Håber snart at alle får øjnene op for dette kæmpe problem med tvangsarbejde. Nu må politikerne i EU også vågne op.
manman01
14.07.2022 kl 21:09 3238

Hej BIF,

Det gør jeg desværre ikke, men jeg har tilgengæld lige fundet denne artikel fra tv2 vi alle kan læse :)

Solceller i Danmark kan være lavet med tvangsarbejde i Kina
https://nyheder.tv2.dk/samfund/2022-07-05-solceller-i-danmark-kan-vaere-lavet-med-tvangsarbejde-i-kina
JULY 14, 2022
"
..
Her er problematikken den samme som i Aabenraa. Cellerne i parken er leveret af en kinesisk solcelleproducent Risen Energy, som har underleverandører i Xinjiang, der bruger de kinesiske arbejdsprogrammer.

Solcellevirksomheden Better Energy har opført parken. Better Energy skriver til TV 2, at de ikke mener, at der er brugt tvangsarbejde i produktionen af deres solceller. På grund af kinesisk lovgivning kan de dog ”ikke stille garantier” for, at deres solceller er produceret uden brug af tvangsarbejde, skriver Better Energys pressechef, Christian Bergmann Mølgaard.
..
"
Slettet bruker
26.07.2022 kl 10:02 2727

Det blir et spennende tredje kvartal i EU i år da det forventes et utkast i midten av September rundt EU-ban av produkter produsert med slavearbeid.


Oversikt over hvor vi er i prosessen:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13480-Effectively-banning-products-produced-extracted-or-harvested-with-forced-labour_en



"European Union: A New EU Trade Instrument To Ban Products Made By Forced Labour: What Do We Know So Far?"
...
"According to a provisional European Commission agenda, a legislative initiative for a "Forced labour products ban" could be presented on 13 September 2022. This date, subject to change, coincides with the September European Parliament Plenary session in Strasbourg."

https://www.mondaq.com/uk/international-trade-investment/1214926/a-new-eu-trade-instrument-to-ban-products-made-by-forced-labour-what-do-we-know-so-far

25 July 2022
Slettet bruker
26.07.2022 kl 10:08 2703

"Business gives cautious backing to an EU ban on forced labour goods"

(Free-/Pay-wall)
https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/brand-watch-business-gives-cautious-backing-an-eu-ban-forced-labour-goods-2022-07-19/

(Alternativt bak paywall)
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fbusiness%2Fsustainable-business%2Fbrand-watch-business-gives-cautious-backing-an-eu-ban-forced-labour-goods-2022-07-19%2F


"July 19 – Business organisations are broadly lining up behind a proposed European ban on merchandise linked to forced labour, albeit with varied vital provisos."

(Åpen artikkel med tolkning/tekst fra Reuters)
https://thedigitalviews.com/brand-watch-business-gives-cautious-backing-to-an-eu-ban-on-forced-labour-goods/
Redigert 26.07.2022 kl 10:39 Du må logge inn for å svare
manman01
26.07.2022 kl 10:20 2638

Fjern paywall ved at proxy igennem denne:

https://12ft.io/

(Virker ofte, men ikke altid)
Slettet bruker
26.07.2022 kl 10:37 2573

Ahh, nice!
Takk!

Har sett deg skrive om den mange ganger, men aldri tenkt over å teste selv haha.