US expands sanctions on imports from China

WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (KUNA) -- The United States announced on Tuesday expanding sanctions against China, under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, to include imports of steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda and others.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it bolstered America's economic and national security by adding steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda, and red dates as high-priority sectors for enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which restricts Chinese goods made with forced labor from entering the United States.
Trump Administration Fights for America's Economic and National Security, Designating New Chinese Industry Sectors as High-Priority for Enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to the statement.
DHS serves as the chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) and each year updates the UFLPA's Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People's Republic of China (UFLPA Strategy) in order to protect the American people.
This year's UFLPA Strategy also highlights enhancements made to enforcement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). As of August 1, 2025, CBP has stopped more than 16,700 shipments valued at almost USD 3.7 billion for further examination under the UFLPA. Of these, more than 10,000 shipments valuing almost $900 million have been denied entry, keeping these suspected illicit goods out of U.S. markets.
The 144 entities on the UFLPA Entity List were identified as using or facilitating forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Trump Administration will continue to hold companies who use or facilitate modern-slavery accountable for their human rights violations by prohibiting their goods from access to our markets Meanwhile, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem "America has a moral, economic, and national security duty to eradicate threats that endanger our nation's prosperity, including unfair trade practices that disadvantage the American people and stifle our economic growth.
"The Trump administration is taking action. "The use of slave labor is repulsive and we will hold Chinese companies accountable for abuses and eliminate threats its forced labor practices pose to our prosperity," she noted. (end) rsr.hm