ACTION TAKEN UNDER 19 U.S.C. 1307

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001001580032-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 9, 2008
• Sequence Number: 32
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2008/07/09: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01001580032-5
BRIEFING
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
~C~~~~Q~~t UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE
^ ACTION ^ INFORMATION
DATE:
FILE: CO:R JPS
Commissioner of Customs
FTCM : John P. Simpson
Director, Office Of ]Regulations and Rulings
SUBJECT: Action Taken Under 19 U.S.C. 1307
This is in response to your question as to the adequacy of the
evidentiary base available to support the action proposed pursuant to
Section 1307 (Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930).
The proposed action is taken under the procedure described in 19 CFR
12.42(e), which provides:
"If the Commissioner of Customs finds at any time that
information available reasonably but not conclusively
indicates that merchandise within a purview of
Section 307 is being, or is likely to be, imported, he
will promptly advise all district directors accordingly
and the district directors shall thereupon withhold
release of any such merchandise pending instructions
from the Commissioner as to whether the merchandise may
be released otherwise than for exportation." (emphasis
supplied)
The cited language describes the adequacy of the evidentiary base
required as a legal matter to support withholding of merchandise under
Section 307. A successful legal challenge would require a showing that the
information on which you relied did not reasonably indicate that goods
subject to the order to withhold were made with proscri forms of labor,
in other words, that your finding was arbitrary, capricious, and without
reasonable foundation.
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 Approved For Release 2008/07/09: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01001580032-5
The current proposed action is based primarily on information from a
creditable official source. Although CIA Director William Casey concedes in
his May 19, 1983, letter to Senator William Armstrong that "we cannot.
determine the exact magnitude of the contribution forced labor makes to the
total output of each industry...", nonetheless, the enclosure to Director
Casey's letter consists of a "list of industries and products in which
forced labor is used extensively." As a legal matter, information that
forced labor is used "extensively" in the manufacture of certain products
would appear to satisfy the evidentiary burden imposed by 19 CFR 12.42(e),
even if the exact contribution of forced labor to the total output of those
products is not certain.
With regard to the argument that goods imported into the U.S. cannot be
shown to be the same goods which were produced with forced labor, there is
no requirement in the statute or regulations for such a showing. Section
12.42 talks of a "class" of merchandise, not individual items of
merchandise. Moreover, there is no requirement to show that merchandise
made with forced labor, is actually being imported into the U.S., merely that
it is likely to be imported. That is, once a class of merchandise is found
to be produced by extensive use of forced labor, it is not necessary to show
that such merchandise is actually being imported. The restriction can be
applied prospectively. This seems to be a rather pointless objection in any
case, since unless such merchandise is actually imported it will never be
affected by the restriction.
Finally, and I recognize that this is somewhat outside my brief, I
would caution against the very dangerous suggestion that compliance with the
clear requirements of duly-enacted laws should give way to notions of
foreign or trade policy, however sensible those policies might be. If the
statute at issue here is believed to be detrimental to the interests of the
United States it should be revoked or amended to give policy officials
greater discretion, but not ignored. At the risk of sounding parrpous, it
seems to me that the latter course of action places us on a footing no more
elevated than the government at which the current action is aimed.
Approved For Release 2008/07/09: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01001580032-5