U.S. expands Xinjiang forced labor import ban to 43 more firms

The U.S. added 43 companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List on July 31, the largest single expansion of the blacklist since the law took effect. The new names lifted the total to 187.

The UFLPA shifts the burden onto importers: goods made wholly or in part in Xinjiang are presumed to be made with forced labor unless companies can rebut that presumption with documentation. Customs and Border Protection detains shipments of apparel, solar materials, raw minerals, industrial components and consumer goods under that presumption.

The law was signed in December 2021 and enforced from June 2022. Earlier rounds included a five-company addition in August 2024 and 37 companies added on January 14, 2025. The Department of Homeland Security added the new Chinese companies.

Cargoes linked to listed firms can be detained at the border, and shipments that fail to clear the UFLPA presumption can be excluded. That pressure reaches beyond firms named on the list, because buyers farther down the chain may need to trace inputs back through multiple suppliers, auditors and trading intermediaries to prove that materials did not come from prohibited labor channels.

The 2025 UFLPA Strategy update also designated new high-priority sectors for enforcement. The policy has spread across industries that rely on opaque sourcing, especially where finished goods are assembled from components and subcomponents that can be difficult to trace quickly.

Advocacy groups in July 2025 said hundreds of companies remained linked to Uyghur forced labor three years into enforcement. China has denied the allegations and rejected U.S. forced-labor claims.