China

CBP Collects $575,000 In Penalties From Importer Of ‘Forced Labor Products’ From China

Published

3 years ago

August 14, 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has collected $575,000 in penalties from Pure Circle U.S.A., Inc., a company that imported ‘forced labor products’ from China, according to a press release

“As part of its trade enforcement responsibilities, CBP will hold companies accountable for importing goods produced with forced labor,” said Brenda Smith, Executive Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade.

“Companies have a responsibility to proactively monitor their supply chains to mitigate the risk of importing goods into the United States that were produced with forced labor.”

Pure Circle imported stevia produced in China by Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Group Baoanzhao Agricultural and Trade LLC, according to CBP. CBP began investigating the imports after it was alerted by a nongovernmental organization to its alleged inhumane activities. Later, CBP issued a Withhold Release Order on those products.

CBP has issued eleven WROs since September 2019, four of which targeted products from China.

CBP’s investigation found that Pure Circle U.S.A., Inc. imported about 20 shipments of products “that were processed in China with prison labor.” A penalty was then issued against Pure Circle. However, the products had already made their way into the U.S. before CBP found evidence of forced labor.

Many of the seizures of Chinese forced labor goods have raised concerns about China’s human rights abuses against minority populations, including Uighurs, a Turkic-ethnic minority, they’ve imprisoned in “reeducation camps” and exploited for labor. Further, China has made many attempts to stop Uighur population growth by forcing women to have abortions and forcing sterilization.

China

‘I Don’t Buy It’: Both Democrats and Republicans don’t believe TikTok’s pledge to protect Americans from CCP

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had a hard time smoothing things over with both Democrats and Republicans during his Thursday testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. both parties expressed cynicism towards the notion that TikTok would protect U.S. data and American users of the app from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Specifically, lawmakers and regulators are concerned “about Chinese laws which require companies based in the country, such as TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, to provide the CCP with access to user data and other proprietary information” reports National Review.

National Review noted that TikTok was reportedly told by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., an inter-agency panel consisting of nine cabinet-level officials, to sell its stake in the social-media app or risk a ban in the U.S.

Before Chew testified on Thursday, China said it strongly opposed ByteDance’s divestment from the social-media platform. China’s Commerce Ministry said that a sale or divestiture of TikTok would involve exporting technology and had to be approved by the Chinese government, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Democrat and ranking member, Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. of New Jersey said Chew’s solution of a $1.5 billion plan nicknamed ‘Project Texas’ which allegedly would “wall off U.S. operations, with all data being stored here” is unacceptable.

Project Texas would give U.S. company Oracle based in Texas the ability to access TikTok’s algorithms in order to flag issues for government inspectors. “I still believe that the Beijing Communist government will still control and have the ability to influence what you do. So this idea, this Project Texas is simply not acceptable,” Pallone said.

“Look, the impression you are giving, and I can understand why you are giving that impression, is that you are just performing some kind of public service here. Right? I mean this is a benign company that is just performing a public service. Maybe that’s not what you are saying, but I don’t buy it,” Pallone continued.

Democrat Marc Veasey of Texas stated to Chew, “A lot of your evasiveness today in answering many of these questions really disturbs me.” The committee’s chairwoman, Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington opened the hearing by exposing Chew off the bat: “You state that ByteDance is not beholden to the CCP. Again, each of the individuals I listed are affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.”