CBP releases updated detention statistics for US Forced Labor Ban

Since 2022, US Customs and Border Protection has steadily increased detention of goods manufactured whole or in part using forced labor, with almost 8,000 shipments valued at over $2.8 billion USD detained to date. The Department of Homeland Security recently received a budget allocation of $115 million to increase staffing and enforcement measures associated with the US forced labor ban, and Congress has been pushing CBP to adopt a global approach to forced labor enforcement rather than focusing primarily on shipments originating from China and Southeast Asia.

The majority of shipments detained under the US forced labor ban have Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, or China listed as the country of origin. In the first two years of the forced labor ban, detentions originating from all other countries combined represented less than 1% of total shipments detained. However 2023 saw a sharp increase in shipments detained from Mexico due to suspicion of forced labor, and to date $12.5 million in goods have been detained from that region alone. In the first months of FY 2024, the value of shipments detained originating from outside of Asia is already half the total value of goods detained from outside of Asia in all of FY 2023. 

Since 2022, CBP has also expanded its enforcement efforts outside of established high risk sectors. Most shipments detained in the first year of the forced labor ban came from either the electronics and apparel sector. However, between 2023 and 2024 agriculture, industrial and manufacturing materials and base metals have seen an increase of as much as 68x their detention rate in 2022. Evidence suggests that enforcement of the US forced labor ban will continue to increase across 2024. The law is industry and sector-agnostic, and impacts goods originating from all over the world.

For companies importing into the U.S., it’s never been more important to know who and where your suppliers are. To learn more about how Sourcemap can help you identify and address forced labor risk in your end to end supply chain, reach out to our team of experts.