US Bans Some Imports from North Korea, Claiming Slave Labor

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (USCBP), since December 5th, has been "detaining" imports from three major North Korean companies, over allegations of slave labor use.

 The three companies import clothing, food, and auto parts

According to USCBP the three firms are Jingde Trading Ltd., Rixin Foods. Ltd., and Zhejiang Sunrise Garment Group Co. Ltd.  Jingde supplies auto parts, Rixin brings in a wide variety of items from sunflowers sees to nuts, and Zhejiang manufactures clothing.

According to USCBP and the Wall Street Journal, the actions are taking place because of accusations of the use of slave labor in their manufacturing. According to US Customs: 

"This enforcement action is the result of a CBP investigation indicating that these companies use North Korean labor in their supply chains in violation of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)."

The imports will be detained until there is verifiable proof the goods were not manufactured utilizing slave labor, which has been an issue with both North Korea and China.

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According to the Wall Street Journal:

"The companies couldn’t be reached for comment. Zhejiang Sunrise is a supplier to Western apparel companies, supply-chain experts said. A United Nations report published in March flagged a company called Rixin Foodstuffs Ltd. for allegedly bringing North Korean laborers to work in a factory in China. A Customs spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a query on whether Rixin Foods and Rixin Foodstuffs are the same company. "

The WSJ and other sources did not divulge what the dollar values are for the import goods that continue to stockpile in US ports of entry.