On November 22, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of 29 companies based in China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, bringing the total number of entities on the UFLPA Entity List to 107. The newly identified and listed companies are involved in (i) electronic materials and aluminum and alloy production, (ii) mining, smelting, and processing raw metallic materials, and (iii) the production and sale of various agricultural products. In a press release, DHS stated it “is taking these steps as part of its commitment to eliminating the use of forced labor practices in U.S. supply chains and promoting accountability for the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).”
Pursuant to a forthcoming Federal Register Notice, effective November 25, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by the newly listed entities are made by forced labor and will be prohibited from entering the United States as a result of the companies’ activities, either sourcing materials from the XUAR or working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the XUAR.
For general background information on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), see Thompson Hine’s International Trade Update of June 2022.