CBP Seizes Products From Chinese Companies That Allegedly Used North Korean Labor

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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Tuesday it has begun seizing merchandise from three Chinese companies due to their alleged use of North Korean labor, which is presumed under U.S. federal law to be forced labor unless proven otherwise.

A CBP investigation found that the companies—Jingde Trading Ltd., Rixin Foods. Ltd., and Zhejiang Sunrise Garment Group Co. Ltd.—had allegedly used North Korean labor in their supply chains, which is in violation of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

CAATSA, a federal law signed in 2017, prohibits items “mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in party” by North Korean nationals or citizens anywhere in the world, “unless clear and convincing evidence is provided” that the goods were not made via forced labor, the CBP stated.

The CBP started detaining merchandise produced or manufactured by the three Chinese companies at all U.S. ports of entry on Dec. 5, according to a release from the federal agency on Dec. 27.

“Pursuant to CAATSA, CBP will detain merchandise from these entities at all U.S. ports of entry unless there is clear and convincing evidence that forced labor was not present at any stage of the production process. Evidence must be provided within 30 days of notice of detention. If the importer fails to provide clear and convincing evidence within this timeframe, the merchandise may be subject to seizure and forfeiture.”

AnnMarie R. Highsmith, the executive assistant commissioner of the CBP Office of Trade, said in a statement: “North Korea’s forced labor system operates both domestically and internationally and supports the North Korean Government’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and it is also a major human rights violation. Legally and morally, we cannot allow these goods into our commerce.”

According to a government advisory in 2018, North Korean laborers work in dozens of countries but that “China and Russia continue to host more North Korean laborers than all other countries and jurisdictions combined.”

Furthermore, employers of North Korean citizens or nationals “pay salaries directly to the North Korean government, which takes between 70 percent and 90 percent of the total earnings.”

“The North Korean government reportedly earns hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars per year from exporting labor,” the advisory (pdf) reads. “These remittances support the North Korean government’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.”

Talks led by the United States seeking to get North Korea to advance denuclearization—including to surrender its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile arsenal—have been stalled since February 2019; leader Kim Jong-un and then-President Donald Trump were unable agree over disputes about international sanctions on Pyongyang.

The Biden administration has said it is open to a dialogue with North Korea at any time without preconditions, but the authoritarian state accused it of having “hostile policies” such as military drills and sanctions that it must withdraw against Pyongyang before any talks can resume.

North Korea has drastically ramped up its weapons tests this year, including its first ICBM test since 2017 in March. Recently, Pyongyang claimed to have performed major tests needed to acquire its first spy satellite and a more mobile intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching U.S. grounds.

The United States last week accused the North Korean regime of having sold and delivered infantry rockets and missiles to the Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, for its use against Ukraine last month.