The Department of Homeland Security designates steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda, and red dates as high-priority sectors to block imports tied to Uyghur forced labor.
Author: By Alp Uyghur
Time and Date: August 19, 2025
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it is stepping up scrutiny of additional Chinese imports, including steel, copper, and lithium, citing alleged human-rights abuses against Uyghurs.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that caustic soda and red dates will also face high-priority enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
“Today, @Sec_Noem announces the designation of new Chinese industry sectors as high-priority for enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The U.S. has added steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda, and red dates to the list of high-priority sectors, which restricts Chinese goods made with forced labor from entering the country,” the post on X said.
“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.,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a separate post on X.
As of August 1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has halted 16,700 shipments worth roughly $3.7 billion for further review under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by Congress in 2022, of which about 10,000 shipments valued at nearly $900 million have been denied entry; the law lists 144 entities as using forced labor in sectors including agriculture, batteries, electronics, food additives, metals, plastics, and textiles, while President Donald Trump has already imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum, citing concerns that foreign nations were flooding the U.S. market with cheap, subsidized goods and threatening national security by making the country dependent on foreign sources.