News / New US clampdown on goods from Chinese firms using forced labour

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US importers beware: the Department of Homeland Security is increasing scrutiny on goods which may have been made using forced labour.

It has extended restrictions on imports from three more companies in China, which export seafood, aluminium and footwear, adding them to a 68-strong list on the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entity list.

Since Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have applied “a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by these entities will be prohibited from entering the United States”.

It said: “By identifying entities found to utilise and/or facilitate the forced labour of Uyghurs and other persecuted groups from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the entity list provides companies with more information about the potential involvement of forced labour in their supply chains.”

Secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas added: “The Department of Homeland Security will not tolerate forced labour in US supply chains and will enforce our laws across all industries and sectors.

“We will continue to investigate companies that use or facilitate forced labour and will hold those entities responsible. We urge stakeholders across industry, civil society and our international partners to work with us to eliminate the scourge of forced labour.”

Products from companies on the list include agriculture, apparel, batteries, chemicals, electronics, food additives, household appliances, nonferrous metals, polysilicon and plastics.

One of the three companies added to the restricted list this week is Shandong Meijia Group (also known as Rizhao Meijia Group), which processes, sells and exports frozen seafood products, vegetables, quick-frozen convenience food and other aquatic foods.

“Shrimp supply chains have a disturbing pattern of profiting from the globe’s most vulnerable populations,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “Argentinian red shrimp packed by Uyghurs in Chinese seafood processing plants should not be competing with wholesome products in American grocery stores.”

The other companies are Dongguan Oasis Shoes and Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity Co.

The CBP began enforcing the UFLPA entity list two years ago and has now reviewed some 8,500 shipments.

It is part of a wholesale examination of US imports that has seen increased reporting, and examination, of cargo, particularly of ecommerce. But the US is not alone. Indonesia said this week it was investigating ecommerce platforms Shopee and Lazada, the South-east Asia arm of Alibaba, for suspected violations of anti-competition rules.

A source told The Loadstar China was not the only country under scrutiny for products made with forced labour, Indonesia is also suspected of using forced labour in its supply chains.