After the Shein tariff storm, the United States may tighten restrictions on Chinese exports

It is learned that on April 11, according to Fox News, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers recently issued a warning that Chinese e-commerce companies such as Shein and Temu's use of import tax-free thresholds may increase the risk of Xinjiang forced labor products entering the U.S. market.

The leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China are the main members of this group, including Chairman Chris Smith, Co-Chairman Jeff Merkley and some members of Congress.

In December 2021, the U.S. Congress introduced the Xinjiang-related bill "UFLPA", which was signed into law by President Biden and took effect in June 2022. According to the "UFLPA", any goods involving forced labor in Xinjiang, including raw materials, parts and production sites, will be subject to import restrictions.

The UFLPA mainly targets clothing products and is enforced by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If the goods do not meet the requirements of the bill, they will be detained by CBP.

The group of lawmakers wrote to CBP asking it to explain how it intends to update its UFLPA implementation strategy to address the challenges posed by Chinese companies such as Temu.

Currently, Chinese companies going overseas are gaining more and more influence in the US market. In the US app download list in March, the top four are all from China, with Temu ranking first in terms of downloads, followed by TikTok editing tool CapCut, then TikTok, and Shein ranking fourth.

Not long ago, Shein was accused by a private group in the United States of using the minimum import duty-free threshold to evade billions of dollars in import tariffs. Not long after the storm subsided, Shein is now involved in the issue of forced labor and has also dragged Temu, which also focuses on clothing, into the water.

The letter states that orders of imported goods valued at less than $800 will not trigger reporting requirements to CBP , and the goods do not have to report basic data such as country of origin and manufacturer, which means these low-value imported goods have the opportunity to escape regulation under the UFLPA.

The group added: “The fact that the Google Play Store recently removed apps from TEMU’s Chinese parent company Pinduoduo (PPD) citing security concerns about malware makes a concerted response to TEMU-based imports all the more urgent.”

Although my country has explicitly denied the US's false accusations of forced labor in Xinjiang, facing the aggressive Chinese companies going overseas, the US may impose stricter supervision on Chinese companies in order to protect the market share of local businesses.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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