On December 7, 2021, the Senate confirmed Tucson, Arizona police chief Chris Magnus as the next U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner with a vote of 50-47 in favor of Magnus. Magnus is CBP’s first Senate-confirmed leader since 2019 – with his predecessor Mark Morgan serving until January 2021 and Troy Miller currently serving as acting commissioner. As commissioner, Magnus will oversee the 60,000-person agency and all of its work related to trade, border security, and travel. Previously, he served as Tucson’s police chief and also has experience working for police departments in Michigan, North Dakota, and California.

Forced labor continues to an issue of particular interest for both the Senate and Magnus. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, stated on October 19, 2021 in the hearing on the nomination of Chris Magnus that the use of forced labor in China and elsewhere is “{o}ne such issue that’s posing a serious danger to our country’s values and American jobs.” Similarly, in that same hearing, Magnus also addressed forced labor and transparency as a top issue, committing CBP to providing “public summary data describing the number of allegations received, open investigations, suspended or inactive investigations, and other relevant information on a regular basis,” per the Government Accountability Office’s recommendation.

Another major topic of concern for Magnus is the current global supply chain blockage. In his October hearing, Magnus stated that he would aim to “ensure that {CBP} has the appropriate staffing at ports, and that CBP is working closely with port authorities, carriers, brokers, labor groups, and other key partners in the trade community to meet the increasing cargo screening and clearance demands” in order to tackle the supply chain crisis. In addition, he also stressed that he would prioritize the continued modernization of technology resources, including the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system used by CBP and others in the trade sphere.

The on the record questions and answers for the hearing on the nomination of Chris Magnus from October 19 is available here.

For more information on CBP and actions addressing human rights and forced labor abuses, contact our team and see previous posts below.

House passes bill barring imports of goods produced in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China | International Trade Law (cmtradelaw.com)

CBP Issues Forced Labor Withhold Release Orders on Malaysian Gloves and Mexican Tomatoes | International Trade Law (cmtradelaw.com)

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Photo of John Brew John Brew

John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations…

John Brew is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, and he regularly advises corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations on matters involving customs administration, enforcement, compliance, litigation, legislation and policy.

John represents clients in proceedings at the administrative and judicial levels, as well as before Congress and the international bureaucracies that handle customs and trade matters. He advises clients on all substantive import regulatory issues handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as classification, valuation, origin, marking, tariff preference programs, other agency regulations, admissibility, import restrictions, quotas, drawback, audits, prior disclosures, penalties, investigations, Importer Self Assessment and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs, importations under bond, the Jones Act, vessel repairs, and foreign trade zone matters.

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Photo of Frances P. Hadfield Frances P. Hadfield

Frances P. Hadfield is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group in the firm’s New York office. Her practice focuses on forced labor and withhold release orders (WRO), import regulatory compliance, and customs litigation. She regularly advises corporations on matters involving…

Frances P. Hadfield is a counsel in Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group in the firm’s New York office. Her practice focuses on forced labor and withhold release orders (WRO), import regulatory compliance, and customs litigation. She regularly advises corporations on matters involving customs compliance, audits, customs enforcement, as well as import penalties.

Frances represents clients before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as in proceedings at the administrative level. She advises corporations on both substantive federal and state regulatory issues that involve U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife in matters pertaining to product admissibility, audits, classification, import restrictions, investigations, marking, licenses, origin, penalties, and tariff preference programs.

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Photo of Martín Yerovi Martín Yerovi

Martín Yerovi is an international trade analyst in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. He provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection…

Martín Yerovi is an international trade analyst in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, D.C. office. He provides practice support to the International Trade Group on import regulatory matters pending before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). He works closely with attorneys developing courses of action for clients impacted by investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. He also supports unfair trade investigations, including antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations, sunset reviews, and changed circumstance reviews before the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission (ITC).

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