I. Background

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act[1] (“UFLPA”) was enacted to address alleged forced labor and human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) of China. The Act relies on a rebuttable presumption that goods were made with forced labor if mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, in the XUAR or produced by one of 144 organizations currently named to the UFLPA Entity List. As such, these commodities are prohibited from entering the United States pursuant to Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The UFLPA was signed into law on December 23, 2021 and implemented on June 21, 2022 without regulatory guidance. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) enforces the Act and the multi-agency Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (“FLETF”) directs its implementation.

II. Enforcement Update

Since June 2022, CBP has detained over 12,500 shipments valued at $3.68 billion, impacting significant quantities and varieties of goods imported from China as well as Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and others. The four most heavily impacted commercial industries are electronics, automotive/aerospace, apparel/textiles, and industrial/manufacturing materials. These sweeping enforcement measures have required companies to examine their global supply chains and operating policies to remediate exposure to UFLPA enforcement.

III. Regulatory Update

On January 15, 2025, the FLETF designated an additional 37 China-based companies to the UFLPA Entity List, increasing the number of organizations subject to the rebuttable presumption to 144. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) leads the planning and strategy of the FLETF, and recently stated in a press release that: “These actions are part of the FLETF’s commitment to eliminating forced labor in U.S. supply chains and holding accountable those responsible for human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).”[2] The companies newly named to the Entity List are from the following sectors: cotton (26 companies), silicon and/or solar (six companies), mining (five companies).

This latest tranche of UFLPA updates have targeted mining giant Zijin Mining Group and subsidiaries. The import prohibition against goods containing the critical materials these companies produce (including copper, lithium, molybdenum, and tungsten) will impact global supply chains in the electronics, automotive, aerospace, solar, and telecommunications industries. The Zijin Mining Group corporate family has been subject to significant scrutiny over the past four years. It was specifically identified in the January 19, 2024 letter from former Congressman Mike Gallagher to DHS urging increased UFLPA enforcement. Zijin Mining Group is the parent company of more than 10 domestic mining companies; all of its subsidiaries and international affiliates may be considered for future designation to the UFLPA Entity List. NGOs, civil society organizations, and related media have a long history reporting links between the Zijin Mining Group and human rights violations dating back to at least 2009.

The entities added from China’s cotton industry are part of one principal entity, Huafu Fashion Co., Ltd (“Huafu”). In May 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that several western retail brands used gray yarn made by Huafu in their supply chains, prompting at least one brand to implement a new policy prohibiting the purchase of “yarn from the Xinjiang region.” The Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also published a report detailing Huafu’s apparent cooperation with forced labor programs in Xinjiang. The FLETF’s designation of Huafu and its subsidiaries likely reflects considerable momentum from these reputable reporting sources and confirmation that global textile brands’ dependence on Chinese cotton represents a continuing concern for the industry.

The inclusion of several silicon and solar energy companies to the UFLPA Entity List was predictable as approximately 50% of the global supply of polysilicon, the essential material in solar panel manufacture, is produced in the Xinjiang region. In 2021, Horizon Advisory (a risk consultancy specializing in Chinese-language research) produced a report alleging that many of the world’s largest solar manufacturing companies depend on forced labor. Since the Horizon Advisory report, the FLETF has steadily added most of its identified solar manufacturers to the Entity List. Of the entities named in this round of additions, Donghai JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the world’s largest producers of solar energy products.

A final note, Dr. Laura Murphy, formerly the head of the Forced Labor Project at Sheffield Hallam University, is currently a leading advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FLETF on UFLPA implementation. In her former role with Sheffield University, Dr. Murphy contributed to articles identifying many of the recent additions to the UFLPA Entity List, including Zijin Mining Group, as proliferators of forced labor in China.

[1] Pub. L. No. 117-78.

[2] U.S. Department of Homeland Security, “DHS Announces Addition of 37 PRC-Based Companies to the UFLPA Entity List,” January 14, 2025, https://www.dhs.gov/archive/news/2025/01/14/dhs-announces-addition-37-prc-based-companies-uflpa-entity-list.