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Ninestar Files Request to Remove U.S. Embargo

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Last week, Ninestar Corporation of Zhuhia, China, filed an official request with the U.S. Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), asking that a U.S. embargo be removed. The company requested that it and eight of its subsidiaries be removed from the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List (UFLPAEL). It’s also seeking to overturn the embargo with petitions before the U.S. International Trade Court, which earlier this year had denied Ninestar’s request for a preliminary injunction to overturn the embargo.

In June 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had placed Ninestar and the eight subsidiaries on the list, alleging that the companies’ used forced Uyghur labor in China to produce printer supplies and printers. Neither Lexmark nor Static Control, two Ninestar companies, have been subject to the embargo.

Ninestar has disputed the allegations, and states that the forced-labor allegations are unfounded and that it strictly adheres to international labor laws.

The company also says that it continues to do well financially, forecasting that net profit for its first half will be up almost 200 percent year-over-year. However, for 2023, it reported a net loss and revenue down 7 percent year-over-year – both likely due to the U.S. embargo and the sluggish Chinese economy.

Favorable Lexmark Ruling 

In June, Ninestar received good news for its Lexmark business. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reversed its ruling that the country of origin for certain Lexmark printers and MFPs is China. The reversal is good news for Lexmark, as the models will no longer have tariffs imposed on them because China has been designated as their country of origin. Now Mexico is the designation for their country of origin.

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