The Biden administration will now reportedly prohibit imports from over two dozen Chinese companies due to their purported involvement in forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.
This move marks the most extensive expansion of a ban list that was implemented in 2022.
The administration expanded the Entity List by 29 companies on Friday, bringing the total to over 100.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act presumptively prohibits the entry of goods from those companies into the United States.
The Biden administration has prioritized the enforcement of the law in its endeavors to address what it considers to be discriminatory Chinese trade practices.
The UFLPA prohibits the majority of imports from Xinjiang, which is the home of the Uyghur people and other minority groups that the United States alleges are being exploited as forced labor.
Among other exports, the Xinjiang region is a significant producer of cotton, tomatoes, and solar-panel components.
China has refuted allegations of human rights violations and has asserted that the United States’ legislation meddles in its internal affairs.
Although the majority of the recently prohibited companies are in the agricultural sector, a few are from other industries, such as the mining and smelting of aluminum, lithium, and other metals.
The action taken on Friday may be one of the final substantial UFLPA measures implemented by the Biden administration.
In 2021, President Biden signed the measure into law, which was passed with nearly unanimous support from Congress.
His administration has been responsible for the organization of the U.S. enforcement approach.
The UFLPA has compelled numerous businesses to investigate their supply chains or face the possibility of their cargo being denied entry into the United States.
According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, approximately $3.66 billion in shipments have been provisionally halted since the law was implemented in June 2022 as of Nov. 1.
Mayorkas defended the administration’s accomplishments in enforcing the law, stating that the U.S. is leveraging technology to identify problematic suppliers, despite some critics’ calls for the expansion of the blacklist and an intensification of the enforcement.
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