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 April through June 2023) include the following.
Stopped Shipments
- The number of stopped shipments was 1,182 (up from 1,045 the previous quarter) and the value of such shipments was $586 million (up from $285 million).
- Of total shipments stopped, 377 (37 percent, unchanged) have been released, 137 (28 percent, unchanged) have been denied, and 669 (34 percent, unchanged) are still pending.
- Electronics accounted for the highest percentage of stopped shipments by number (35.4 percent, up from 31.4 percent), followed by industrial and manufacturing materials (25.3 percent, down from 30.4 percent) and apparel, footwear, and textiles (14.2 percent, down from 16.7 percent).
- Electronics also accounted for 77.6 percent of stopped shipments by value, followed by base metals at 8.6 percent (up from 2.6 percent) and machinery at 7.6 percent (up from 2.5 percent).
- China accounted for the largest percentage of stopped shipments by number at 38.6 percent (down from 42.2 percent), followed by Malaysia at 31.0 percent (up from 22.9 percent) and Vietnam at 25.2 percent (down from 34.0 percent).
- Malaysia accounted for 70.4 percent of stopped shipments by value (up from 59.5 percent), followed by China at 18.1 percent (up from 15.9 percent) and Thailand at 5.2 percent (up from zero).
- Nearly all of the stopped shipments from Malaysia were in the electronics sector. For China, 22.4 percent (down from 24.9 percent) were in apparel, footwear, and textiles, 21.9 percent (up from 8.2 percent) were in machinery, and 20.6 percent (up from 5.7 percent) were in base metals. For Vietnam, 81.5 percent (up from 60.9 percent) were in industrial and manufacturing materials, 15.1 percent (down from 15.5 percent) were in apparel, footwear, and textiles, and 2.3 percent (down from 23.4 percent) were in electronics.
- It is worth noting that Mexico appeared on the list of stopped shipments for the first time this quarter, with three shipments valued at $12.6 million.
Released Shipments
- Of the 377 shipments released, 51.7 percent were in electronics (up from 43.4 percent), 10.9 percent were in apparel, footwear, and textiles (down from 12.9 percent), and 8.0 percent were in base metals (up from 3.3 percent).
- Malaysia accounted for 49.6 percent of the shipments released by number (up from 42.4 percent), followed by China at 42.4 percent (down from 47.0 percent) and Vietnam at 6.1 percent (down from 9.3 percent).
- Malaysia accounted for 85 percent of shipments released by value (down from 86 percent), followed by China at 12 percent (up from 11 percent) and Vietnam at three percent (unchanged).
- For Malaysia, all shipments released were in electronics. For China, 26.9 percent were in base metals (up from 7.1 percent), 23.1 percent were in machinery (up from 7.7 percent), and 18.8 percent were in consumer products and mass merchandising (up from 14.2 percent). For Vietnam, 47.8 percent were in apparel, footwear, and textiles (up from 38.9 percent), 26.1 percent were in electronics (up from 8.3 percent), and 21.7 percent were in industrial and manufacturing materials (down from 52.8 percent).
Denied Shipments
- Of the 137 shipments denied, 60 percent were in industrial and manufacturing materials (unchanged), 20.9 percent were in apparel, footwear, and textiles (down from 24.2 percent), and 7.8 percent were in machinery (up from 1.7 percent).
- Vietnam accounted for 59.1 percent of shipments denied by number (up from 48.5 percent), followed by China at 36.5 percent (down from 50.2 percent) and Cambodia with 0.9 percent (up from 0.3 percent).
- Similarly, Vietnam accounted for 73.6 percent of the value of shipments denied (up from 38 percent), followed by China at 26.6 percent (down from 61 percent).
- Most of the shipments denied were in industrial and manufacturing materials for Vietnam (92.6 percent, up from 85.4 percent), apparel, footwear, and textiles for China (38.1 percent, up from 33.6 percent), and apparel, footwear, and textiles for Cambodia (100 percent, unchanged).
Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg has a robust program to assist companies on forced labor issues. 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.
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