US blocks $50M in imports made from forced labor and may do even more under Biden

The United States seized a record-high $50 million this year in imported goods that were produced by companies who used forced labor, and it expects to do more blocking under the incoming Biden administration.

"Absolutely, this type of enforcement action will continue," Ana Hinojosa, executive director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate, told reporters Wednesday. "Forced labor in the U.S. supply chain is a very bipartisan issue. ... For this upcoming year, I would expect that we would continue, at least at the same pace."

Federal law prohibits the importation of goods mined, manufactured, or produced, in part or fully, by convict labor, forced child labor, and indentured labor. During fiscal year 2020, which ran from Oct. 1, 2019, through Sept. 30, CBP issued 13 orders directing its officers to detain and not allow into the U.S. foreign goods that it had concluded through international investigations were made by foreign companies who relied on children, abused workers, and people in internment camps.

The 13 orders issued over the past year were more than the previous four years combined, which Hinojosa said was "unprecedented" and the result of the agency growing its trade team. In 2020, CBP seized 300 cargo shipments that contained more than $50 million in goods made from forced labor.

Hinojosa announced Wednesday a new ban on palm oil made by Malaysian company Sime Darby Plantation Berhad and its affiliates. The U.S. imported approximately $410 million in crude palm oil from Malaysia alone this past year, roughly 30% of crude palm oil imports globally. Palm oil is estimated to be used in nearly half of items on grocery store shelves, an indication the new ban could affect manufacturers of food and personal care items that rely on it.