On May 17, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Federal Register notice announcing that effective immediately, 26 Chinese entities have been added to the UFLPA Entity List. These entities include cotton traders and warehouse facilities within China, but the majority of which operate outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). DHS determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that 21 of the entities source and sell cotton from the XUAR on the wholesale market, and that five entities also source cotton from the XUAR.
As a result of their listing on the UFLPA Entity List, goods produced by these 26 entities will be presumed to be made by forced labor and subject to detention under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas stated, “Today’s announcement strengthens our enforcement of the UFLPA and helps responsible companies conduct due diligence so that, together, we can keep the products of forced labor out of our country. We will continue to execute on our textile enforcement strategy and hold the PRC accountable for their exploitation and abuse of the Uyghur people.”
For general background information on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), see Thompson Hine’s International Trade Update of June 2022.