U.S. UFLPA Unveils Broader Enforcement and New Entity Targets
On August 19, 2025, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF)—led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with broad interagency support—released its annual update to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Strategy. This update marks a bold escalation in efforts to block forced-labor tainted goods from entering U.S. markets.
What’s New?
1. Significant Growth in the UFLPA Entity List
- Over the past year, 78 new entities have been added to the UFLPA Entity List, raising the total to 144 entities. These organizations are now presumed to have links to forced labor and are barred from supplying goods into the U.S. unless proof counters that presumption.
2. Expanded Enforcement to New High-Priority Sectors
- The update introduces several new high-priority sectors subject to heightened scrutiny, including:
- Caustic soda
- Copper
- Lithium
- Red dates
- Steel
- Caustic soda
- These join previously designated sectors like cotton, polyvinyl chloride, aluminum, and seafood.
This strategy reinforces the U.S. government’s commitment to shielding global supply chains from forced labor—in particular, the state-sponsored forced labor of Uyghur and other minority groups in China’s Xinjiang region.
Staunch enforcement of the rebuttable presumption under UFLPA ensures that U.S. consumers and businesses aren’t unwittingly supporting exploitative practices.
By adding more entities and sectors into enforcement scope, the update pressures importers to rigorously vet their supply chains, strengthening overall supply chain resilience. Your company’s sourcing strategy should be airtight: any products from the newly listed entities or high-priority sectors can be blocked unless supported by clear and convincing evidence they were NOT made with forced labor.
FRDM helps you identify these and other commodities in your supply chain, and trace the connected entitles across the supply chain.
Learn how you can protect your company today.
