US expands import ban to 43 companies over Uyghur forced labor allegations

The US government has added 43 companies, including Hunan Aihua Group, to its import blacklist under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). The move represents the most aggressive single expansion of the entity list since the law took effect. What the UFLPA actually does The UFLPA was signed into law in December 2021 with a deceptively simple mechanism. It creates what lawyers call a “rebuttable presumption” against any goods produced in China’s Xinjiang region. If your product touches Xinjiang, US Customs assumes it was made with forced labor until you prove otherwise. Since June 2022, US Customs and Border Protection has reviewed shipments valued at nearly $3.7 billion under the UFLPA’s regulations. The entity list itself has been growing steadily. Following earlier additions, the list reached approximately 144 entities after a major January 2025 update that added between 37 and 39 companies. That January expansion was, at the time, the largest single batch addition the list had ever seen. This latest round of 43 companies surpasses even that benchmark. The targeted sectors tell the story of where US regulators see the highest risk. Textiles and cotton remain core target...