$500 Million in Suspected Forced-Labor Goods Halted at US Border in 5 Months

Over the past five months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has identified more than 1,900 shipments—valued at nearly $500 million—that were suspected of containing goods made with forced labor.

The majority of the shipments, 1,701 valued as $487 million, were identified by the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act. (UFLPA), which was implemented less than a year ago.

Since 1930, illegal imports of forced labor-produced goods are prohibited.

Recent increases in enforcement are due to UFLPA provisions that make it U.S policy to make this a U.S. policy “rebuttable presumption” All products produced in China’s Xinjiang region are made using forced labor.

Troy Miller, acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, stated that although initial progress has been made in enforcing UFLPA has been impressive, there is still much to be done.

“I know that we will continue to make great strides in combating forced labor and rooting out bad actors who do not abide by the law.

“We will all work together to continue setting a high standard worldwide and eventually stop these types of practices.” Miller told U.S. business representatives at the CBP Forced Labor Expo in Washington on March 14.

Forced Labor

The Uyghur people are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority living mostly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwest China.

Since 2014, Uyghurs have been subjected to a campaign by the Chinese Communist Party to force them into labor in the cotton industry, according to Nury Turkel, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and a survivor of forced labor camps in China.

“Since my childhood, Uyghurs have been forced to work as laborers. However, decades later, forced labor and reeducation camps have returned to my ancestral homeland on a large scale.

“The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or PCC, is a paramilitary organization that orchestrates forced labor in the Uyghur region,” Turkel stated that on March 14,

“The Chinese companies use legal forced labor. It is not a matter of lax enforcement or government collusion with corrupt businesses.

“It is clear that hundreds of camps were filled with innocent people by Xinjiang officials, and that the order was given from the top. Beijing orders as documented in leaked documents were to ‘show no mercy,'” Turkel said.

Government detainees suffered torture, rape, forced sterilization, abortion, and injection with unknown drugs according to Turkel.

Following revelations of abuses of the Uyghur people, Congress passed the UFLPA with bipartisan support in December 2021.

Technological Enforcement

Enforcement efforts increasingly rely on technology to target shipments of goods that may contain products made with forced labor and to allow entry of goods that don’t, according to Robert Silvers, undersecretary for strategy, policy, and plans at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“To give trusted traders priority standings, we built upon our Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Program.” Silvers told the Expo attendees.

“We’re working with industry to develop innovative AI/machine learning technologies and streamline supply chain tracing. This will also improve CBP’s analytical capabilities. We are looking into scientific testing for cotton, and other commodities, that could help us identify the true origin of goods.” Silver said.

Forced labor in the U.S. supply chains affects 28 million people worldwide, according to AnnMarie Highsmith, executive assistant commissioner of the Office of Trade at CBP.

While progress in law enforcement has been good and technological solutions are promising, ongoing effort in both the public and private sectors is needed, Highsmith said.

“There is no quick way to tell if the merchandise contains forced labor.

“There’s no technology that’s going to replace due diligence.”