Forced Labor Update — Possible Complete XUAR Import Ban

On December 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act nearly unanimously. The House bill would create a "rebuttable presumption" that all goods from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) were made with forced labor. The House version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act also would require importers to affirmatively demonstrate that any goods imported from the XUAR were not made with forced labor. As a practical matter, this means that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would be required to block shipments from XUAR, absent documentary proof from the importer of record that the shipped goods are free from forced labor. The House bill also requires CBP to report every shipment that it does allow into the U.S., to Congress and to the public. The House bill does not contain any provision to allow shipments that are currently en route from XUAR into the United States, and it does not provide any window for