Synopsis: The United States government bans the import of goods produced or manufactured by forced labor. The article below provides a summary of the U.S. forced labor laws generally and an overview of recent updates affecting forced labor enforcement, including the recent publication by the outgoing Biden Administration of the first-ever U.S. Government Trade Strategy to Combat Forced Labor.
It may seem a bit unusual for a departing Cabinet-level official to outline a strategy in the last week of her tenure, but that is exactly what happened on January 13, 2025, when outgoing U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) Katherine Tai published the first-ever U.S. Government Trade Strategy to Combat Forced Labor (the “Strategy”), which provides a “comprehensive approach to using trade tools to combat forced labor.”[1]
The Strategy ends with an invitation: “This strategy outlines how the United States can continue to build on our efforts and use trade to end forced labor. It is an invitation to all of you and our allies and partners to work with the United States.” It is also an invitation, or challenge, to the incoming Trump Administration and new USTR Jamieson Greer to continue or expand policies to combat forced labor.
Because a significant portion of forced labor enforcement impacts China, there is a distinct possibility that such enforcement will increase in the second Trump Administration. Despite the new Chief Executive in the White House, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs” or “CBP”), the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”), and partner government agencies will continue to enforce the United States’ various forced labor laws, including Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
Forced Labor Laws
Section 307
Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (“Section 307”) prohibits the importation of “all goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any country by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor.”[2] The import ban was largely unenforced for most of its history due to a “consumptive demand” exception. This exception applied to goods that were not produced “in such quantities in the United States as to meet the consumptive demands of the United States,”[3] allowing for the continued import of goods from forced labor if domestic production of those goods was insufficient to meet demand. The exception was finally removed in 2016 through legislative action.[4] After Congress closed this loophole, CBP blocked the entry of more products in the past eight years than in the previous 85 years of the forced labor import ban.[5]
CBP enforces Section 307 through the issuance of Withhold Release Orders (“WROs”) and Findings. Customs issues a WRO when CBP has reasonable evidence that the merchandise was manufactured or produced using forced labor. Under a WRO, CBP detains merchandise unless and until the importer submits evidence that the merchandise was not produced by forced labor. CBP issues what is called a “Finding” upon a determination by the agency that merchandise is the product of forced labor. A Finding allows for CBP to seize, as opposed to just detain, the subject merchandise. Seizure is more severe than detention, as importers whose goods have been detained may reexport such goods, whereas importers whose goods have been seized subject to a Finding, may not. An importer’s recourse for goods seized under a Finding is to attempt to prove admissibility or opt for abandonment and destruction.[6]
UFLPA
After the closing of the consumptive demand loophole, the forced labor import prohibition received another jolt with the passage of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”), which went into effect on June 21, 2022.[7] The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that any goods, wares, articles, or merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, or produced by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List (as defined in Endnote 7), are prohibited from entering the United States pursuant to Section 307.[8] An importer may overcome the presumption by providing clear and convincing evidence that the goods were not produced with forced labor.
The FLETF, an interagency body chaired by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), is tasked with developing and regularly updating a strategy for supporting CBP’s enforcement of the UFLPA and for adding entities to the UFLPA Entity List. The UFLPA Entity List currently includes 144 entities designated for their participation in forced labor production by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups in Xinjiang.[9]
In the largest single expansion of the UFLPA Entity List, the FLETF, just one day after the USTR published the Strategy described above, added 37 entities to the list.[10] The new entities include companies involved in mining critical minerals, manufacturers of solar module inputs, and companies involved in the production and sale of cotton and cotton products. The inclusion of numerous entities on the UFLPA Entity List is evidence of the ever-expanding commitment the United States has taken to curtail the production, sale, and purchase of goods that are the result of forced labor.
The above laws constitute the foundation of the United States’ forced labor prevention framework, but as seen below, combating forced labor can come in many forms.
U.S. Government Trade Strategy to Combat Forced Labor
In the introduction to the Strategy, outgoing USTR Katherine Tai describes the steps the United States has taken during the Biden Administration to combat forced labor. Such action includes implementing the forced labor prohibition of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”),[11] the initiation of an investigation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into Nicaragua’s potential violations of labor and human rights,[12] tabling text at the World Trade Organization to address forced labor in the fishing industry,[13] and, most prominently, enforcement of the UFLPA, including additions to the UFLPA Entity List.
Former USTR Tai listed four goals (the “Goals”) guiding the implementation of the Strategy:
- Develop equitable trade policy through inclusive processes;
- Fully utilize all available trade tools to combat forced labor;
- Develop and implement innovative trade tools to combat forced labor; and
- Increase multilateral action with trading partners to combat forced labor as an unfair trade practice.
It remains to be seen whether these four Goals will be pursued under the current administration. Under the new USTR, Goals 2 and 3 in particular may be continued, though potentially with different areas of focus.
Looking Ahead
Regardless of whether and to what extent the Strategy is implemented in the second Trump Administration, the enforcement of the forced labor import prohibition is unlikely to end. Despite its slow start due to the “consumptive demand” exception, the forced labor prohibition, especially with respect to Chinese goods, enjoys wide bipartisan support. In fact, in 2021 former Republican Senator and new Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the primary sponsor of the UFLPA in the Senate, while Democratic Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts was the primary sponsor in the House.
These days, the UFLPA often dominates the discussion on forced labor enforcement, but it is important for importers to remember that Section 307 prohibits the importation of goods derived from any country “by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor.” The forced labor prevention ecosystem continues to expand both within the United States and among foreign countries. Therefore, U.S. businesses, their suppliers, and importers must conduct sufficient due diligence to ensure the use of forced labor makes up no part of their global supply chains.
[1] U.S. Government Trade Strategy to Combat Forced Labor, U.S. Trade Representative (Jan. 13, 2025), available at https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/U.S.%20Government%20Trade%20Strategy%20to%20Combat%20Forced%20Labor.pdf.
[2] 19 U.S.C. § 1307 (2025).
[3] Id. (quoted language was struck out in 2016).
[4] Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 § 910, 19 U.S.C. § 4301 (2016).
[5] Section 307 and Imports Produced by Forced Labor, Congressional Research Service (Dec. 10, 2024), available at https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11360.
[6]19 C.F.R. § 12.42-12.45 (2025). To prove admissibility, the importer must provide to CBP within three months of import 1) a certificate of origin signed by the foreign seller or owner of the merchandise certifying the merchandise was not produced by forced labor, and 2) a statement from the ultimate consignee showing in detail that it made every reasonable effort to determine the source of the merchandise, every component thereof, and the character of labor used in the production of the merchandise.
[7] Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 117-78, 135 Stat. 1525 (2021).
[8] Id.
[9] UFLPA Entity List, Dept. of Homeland Security, available at https://www.dhs.gov/uflpa-entity-list (last visited Jan. 29, 2024).
[10] Press Release, DHS Announces Addition of 37 PRC-Based Companies to UFLPA Entity List, Dept. of Homeland Security (Jan. 14, 2025), available at https://www.dhs.gov/archive/news/2025/01/14/dhs-announces-addition-37-prc-based-companies-uflpa-entity-list.
[11] Article 23.6, Agreement Between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada, U.S.-Mex.-Can., Nov. 30, 2018, as amended Dec. 10, 2019, H.R. DOC. NO. 116-56 (2019)
[12] Initiation of Section 301 Investigation, Hearing, and Request for Public Comments: Nicaragua’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Labor Rights, Human Rights, and Rule of Law, 89 Fed. Reg. 101,088 (Dec. 13, 2024), available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/13/2024-29422/initiation-of-section-301-investigation-hearing-and-request-for-public-comments-nicaraguas-acts.
[13] Press Release, United States Urges WTO Members to Address Forced Labor on Fishing Vessels in Ongoing Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations, U.S. Trade Representative (May 26, 2021), available at https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2021/may/united-states-urges-wto-members-address-forced-labor-fishing-vessels-ongoing-fisheries-subsidies.
