On August 19, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans issued its annual update to its Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Strategy (UFLPA Strategy). The update expands the list of high-priority enforcement sectors and adds 78 new entities to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List (UFLPA Entity List).
The UFLPA Strategy was first issued in 2022 to support enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), enacted in 2021. While Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of goods produced by forced labor, the UFLPA created a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or manufactured in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, made with Uyghur labor anywhere, or by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List are made with forced labor and are therefore barred from importation by Section 307. Importers may overcome this presumption by providing clear and convincing evidence that the goods were not made with forced labor.
The revised UFLPA Strategy identifies five new sectors to be added to the list of high-priority enforcement sectors: copper, lithium, steel, caustic soda, and jujubes (red dates). These new sectors join seven sectors already on the list (aluminum, apparel, cotton, polyvinyl chloride, seafood, silica-based products, and tomatoes). Unlike the UFLPA Entity List, the high-priority enforcement sectors list doesn’t establish a rebuttable presumption that these goods are made with forced labor. Instead, they are intended to guide DHS’s Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force in prioritizing enforcement, focus review of entities within high-priority sectors for possible inclusion on UFLPA Entity List and develop sector-specific guidance for importers to ensure compliance with the UFLPA.
The addition of 78 new entities to the UFLPA Entity List signals a significant expansion—since the initial ULFPA Strategy the Entity List has grown from 20 to 144 entities. These entities are presumed to be involved in forced labor practices and any goods produced by such an entity are forbidden from entry in the U.S. unless the importer establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the goods were not the product of forced labor. The current UFLPA Strategy also removes one entity from the UFLPA Entity List and makes technical corrections to three entries.
The expanded scope of the UFLPA Strategy underscores the need for importers to conduct supply chain due diligence in light of the growing UFLPA Entity List and newly designated high-priority enforcement sectors. By gathering comprehensive documentation and maintaining transparent supply chain records, importers can better position themselves to support the reasonable care due diligence required of importers and to overcome the rebuttable presumption when necessary and ensure compliance with evolving regulations, mitigate compliance risks and uphold ethical sourcing standards.
