CBP's Forced Labor Shipment Detentions Are Up, But Accuracy Is Down - Is AI To Blame?

The US government has turned to AI-generated supply chain maps to drive enforcement of the US Forced Labor ban and anti-corruption measures. But these databases are highly inaccurate - as the plummeting success rate of successful CBP detentions readily shows.

Between FY2023 and FY2025, CBP detentions were successful 46-52% of the time - meaning that roughly one in two shipments suspected of forced labor violations could not be proven otherwise. But 2026 shows a starkly different story: the last three reported months show a successful detention rate of only 12%: 18,611 out of 21,159 shipments detained were ultimately released because importers were able to demonstrate a clean chain of custody and provide clear and convincing evidence that forced labor was not present in their supply chains. 

Recently, CBP has touted the use of AI-generated supply chain databases that try to infer connections between companies by mining publicly available trade statistics. Could the reliance on AI-driven supply chain data be the reason why successful detentions have fallen over 70% in just a few months? 

AI-generated data has been promoted as a quick and easy solution for supply chain mapping. But these shortcut solutions can often be inaccurate. That’s because the AI-generated relationships are full of false positives: between 80-90% of commercial relationships asserted by AI are based on outdated, incomplete, and totally irrelevant data. Due to the “rebuttable presumption” essential to the U.S. forced labor ban, U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not have to justify the accuracy of the intel used to justify the detentions and seizures they make; the onus is on the importers facing the detention to provide clear and convincing evidence of a complete chain of custody to demonstrate that forced labor was not present in the manufacturing of the detained goods. 

This Changes Everything: Presenting CBP With Verifiable Data Significantly Increases Your Chance of Getting Shipments Released 

In the early years of the US forced labor ban, getting a shipment detained meant a nearly 50/50 chance of getting that shipment permanently denied entry. But these odds have completely changed. 

In the last three months, CBP has detained nearly as many shipments as it detained in all of FY2025 - (21,159 vs 22,398).  While the likelihood that your shipment will be detained upon import into the United States has exponentially increased, the likelihood you will be able to successfully contest the detention and get the shipment released are higher than ever before provided you are collecting verifiable and supplier-attested supply chain data.  

Don't Waste Your Time with False Positives Generated by AI

Every false positive triggers an internal investigation that can take weeks or months to prepare a defense to CBP - but with the 30 day window allotted to respond in the event of a detention, this is time your business can't afford. Investing in supply chain mapping that relies on authentic, verifiable and supplier-attested data will prepare your company to respond to CBP's increase in shipment detentions in 2026 and leave your business with a higher likelihood of successfully rebutting the presumption of forced labor to get your shipment released.

Companies can map their supply chains with authentic tier-n data in a matter of days. Ensure your business is prepared for the increase in shipment detentions in 2026. To learn more about how Sourcemap can help your business collect accurate supply chain data that is admissible to customs, reach out to our team of experts.  

Next Steps

Since 2011, Sourcemap has provided the only system of record for verifiable n-tier supply chain data to manage the biggest risks and compliance hurdles in global trade. Our team is in regular communication with regulators and enforcement agencies and provides best-in-class software to defend companies against audits, investigations and enforcement actions especially CBP detentions. Reach out to our experts to learn how your supply chain can be future-proofed for CBP compliance and general resilience: www.sourcemap.com