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The Authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in enforcing forced labor and some implications for Vietnamese exporters and regulatory agencies

Within the context of international trade becoming increasingly intertwined with the principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, the United States has emerged as one of the leading countries in utilizing trade measures to combat forced labor in global suppy chain. The legal foundation for the enforcement of forced labor in the U.S includes Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which came into effect in June 2022. Under these regulations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is granted broad authority at the border, enabling the agency to detain, deny entry, or seize imported goods suspected of being linked to forced labor.

One of the most notable features of the UFLPA is the “rebuttable presumption” mechanism. Under this approach, any goods associated with high-risk regions or entities are presumed to have been manufactured with forced labor unless importers can provide sufficient evidence proving otherwise. This mechanism has fundamentally transformed CBP’s enforcement practices by shifting the burden of proof onto businesses and expanding regulatory scrutiny to the entire supply chain, including raw materials and intermediate processing stages. As a result, CBP no longer functions solely as a border control authority but has also become a major actor influencing the structure of global supply chains.

Implementation in practice demonstrates the significant scale of CBP enforcement activities. Since the UFLPA entered into force, CBP has reviewed 42,807 shipments suspected of links to forced labor, of which 24,344 shipments have been denied with an estimated total value of approximately $3.96 billion and 3,512 shipments are pending review. High-risk sectors include base metals, electronics, apparel footwear and textiles, and more recently, the automotive, aviation, and industrial and manufacturing materials.

A particularly noteworthy issue is that the distribution of detained shipments by country does not fully correspond to the primary country targeted by the policy. Although the UFLPA is principally aimed the importation of goods into the United States manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People's Republic of China, especially from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), actual enforcement data indicate that a substantial portion of detained goods originates from intermediary countries within regional supply chains. According to CBP statistics updated as of January 2026, Malaysia accounted for approximately $1.62 billion USD in detained goods, Viet Nam around $1.03 billion, and Thailand roughly $0.54 billion, while the value of shipments directly imported from China that were detained was significantly lower, at approximately USD 0.48 billion. This clearly reflects CBP’s supply chain-based enforcement approach, in which the origin of raw materials and production linkages are considered more important than the final exporting country. At the same time, these figures illustrate the “spillover risk” faced by countries deeply integrated into regional manufacturing networks, even when such countries are not themselves sources of forced labor.

More recently, on March 12, 2026, in relation to forced labor concerns, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 investigation into 60 economies, including Viet Nam.  The investigations will determine whether acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce. According to the U.S. position, weak enforcement may artificially lower product prices, disadvantage compliant manufacturers, and allow goods produced under exploitative conditions to remain embedded within complex global supply chains.

The impact of these policies on exporting enterprises is fundamental. To reduce the risk of shipment detention or customs clearance delays, businesses must know their supply chains and spend their due diligence efforts and investment on traceability systems and multi-layer supply chain management mechanisms. The requirement to provide evidence demonstrating the absence of forced labor compels companies to monitor not only direct suppliers but also second- and third-tier suppliers, thereby increasing compliance costs and reshaping production organization models. In many cases, insufficient transparency in supply chains, even if unintentional, may still result in shipments being detained at the U.S. border.

At the national level, exporting countries such as Viet Nam face growing pressure to strengthen state management systems related to rules of origin, enhance the capacity to combat trade fraud, and improve supply chain transparency. In parallel, these countries must further promote international cooperation, particularly with the United States, in areas such as information exchange and enterprise verification in order to minimize risks and safeguard national trade credibility.

It can be seen that CBP’s authority in enforcing forced labor regulations, combined with USTR’s initiated investigations on the practice of forced labor toward US’s trading partners is posing an inevitable requirement for Viet Nam to proactively adapt and enhance the effectiveness of measures for origin trace in order to maintain and facilitate exports to the U.S. market. This is also an opportunity for Viet Nam to enhance product quality, increase added value, and strengthen its position within regional and global supply chains.

SB