DHS and FLETF Continue to Expand Forced Labor Enforcement to New Industries

In early October, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of steel and aspartame companies to its official Entities List. This comes after several months of notable additions to the Entities List, including seafood and footwear companies as well as manufacturers of critical raw materials such as aluminum, copper and magnesium. 

2024 has shown a marked increase in forced labor-related detentions by the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) and CBP. Compared to 2023, more than double the total value of goods have been detained upon entry into the U.S. under suspicion of forced labor, bringing the total value of goods detained since 2022 to over $3.5 billion USD. Detentions have been increasingly indiscriminate as enforcement agents have begun to focus on new industries and sectors, including electronics, apparel, industrial and manufacturing materials, food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, critical raw materials and base metals, and machinery. 

The US continues to prioritize the prevention of goods manufactured whole or in part using forced labor from entering the market, and enforcement bodies have been executing detentions with significantly increased resources compared to 2023. 

To learn more about US trends toward supply chain due diligence and forced labor enforcement, and how Sourcemap can help, reach out to our team of experts.