Information made available by U.S. Customs and Border Protection highlights an evolving environment with respect to the agency’s enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The UFLPA establishes a rebuttable presumption that goods made wholly or in part in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are made with forced labor and are therefore excluded from entry into the U.S. In its updated dashboard CBP provides aggregate statistics on the number and value of shipments stopped for UFLPA enforcement as well as the industries and countries of origin most affected. Highlights of the most recent quarterly statistics (for the period October through December 2023) include the following.
Stopped Shipments
- The number of stopped shipments was 1,146 (up from 883 the previous quarter) and the value of such shipments was $483 million (up from $260 million).
- Of total shipments stopped, 234 (20 percent) have been released, 196 (17 percent) have been denied, and 716 (62 percent) are still pending.
- Electronics accounted for the highest percentage of stopped shipments by number (54.9 percent, up from 46.3 percent), followed by apparel, footwear, and textiles (20.7 percent, up from 19.5 percent), and industrial and manufacturing materials (11.3 percent, down from 18.8 percent).
- Electronics also accounted for 87.8 percent of stopped shipments by value (up from 56.8 percent), followed by base metals at 8.4 percent (unchanged), and apparel, footwear, and textiles at 1.4 percent (down from 3.7 percent).
- Vietnam accounted for the largest percentage of stopped shipments by number at 31.9 percent (down from 40.3 percent), followed by China at 23.9 percent (down from 30.9 percent), Thailand at 19.5 percent (up from 10.0 percent), and Malaysia at 16.7 percent (up from 15.1 percent).
- Of all stopped shipments from Vietnam, 58.7 percent were in the electronics sector (up from 37.6 percent), 33.3 percent were in the industrial and manufacturing materials sector (down from 41.9 percent), and 7.9 percent were in the apparel, footwear, and textiles sector (down from 20.5 percent). For China, 41.6 percent were in apparel, footwear, and textiles (up from 24.9 percent), 25.9 percent were in base metals (up from 24.9 percent), and 13.9 percent were in agriculture and prepared products (unchanged). For Malaysia, all of the stopped shipments were in the electronics sector (unchanged). And for Thailand, 98.7 percent were in the electronics sector (compared to all stopped shipments during the preceding quarter) and the remaining shipments were in the automotive and aerospace sector.
Released Shipments
- Of the 234 shipments released, 73.9 percent were in electronics, 9.0 percent were in base metals, and 6.0 percent were in apparel, footwear, and textiles.
- Vietnam accounted for 52.6 percent of the shipments released by number (up by 39.0 percent), followed by China with 21.4 percent (down from 32.4 percent), Malaysia with 20.9 percent (down from 23.3 percent), and Thailand with 2.1 percent (down from 2.5 percent).
- For Vietnam, 96.7 percent of all shipments released were in the electronics sector (up from 72.7 percent). For China, 42.0 percent were in base metals (up from 40.6 percent), 16.0 percent were in agriculture and prepared products (up from 8.6 percent), 14.0 percent were in consumer products and mass merchandising (down from 20.3 percent), and 14.0 percent were in pharmaceuticals, health, and chemicals (down from 14.1 percent). For Malaysia and Thailand, all shipments released were in electronics (unchanged).
Denied Shipments
- Of the 196 shipments denied, 56.6 percent were in industrial and manufacturing materials, 18.9 percent were in apparel, footwear, and textiles, and 16.8 percent were in electronics.
- Vietnam accounted for 66.8 percent of all shipments denied by number (up from 54.7 percent), followed by China at 17.3 percent (down from 30.0 percent) and Thailand with 7.7 percent (down from 8.5 percent).
- Vietnam accounted for 45.8 percent of the value of shipments denied (up from 23.2 percent), followed by Malaysia at 35.8 percent (up from 10.3 percent).
- Most of the shipments denied were in industrial and manufacturing materials for Vietnam (84.0 percent, down from 85.7 percent), apparel, footwear, and textiles for China (55.9 percent, up from 42.4 percent), and electronics for Thailand (80 percent, down from 100 percent).
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg offers a comprehensive suite of services to help companies address forced labor concerns around the world, including supply chain reviews, due diligence strategies, and proactive remediation. ST&R also maintains a frequently updated web page offering a broad range of information on forced labor-related efforts in the U.S. and around the world. For more information, please contact ST&R at supplychainvisibility@strtrade.com.
Copyright © 2024 Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.; WorldTrade Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.