Enforcement activity under the UFLPA has significantly increased in the first half of 2025. The automotive sector saw the greatest increase in the number of detentions. In contrast, the apparel sector experienced a slight decline in detentions. There were no notable changes in the agriculture sector. Vietnam experienced a significant decrease in its number of shipments detained.
This insight includes an analysis of enforcement of the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) from January to June 2025 and key trends relevant to the garment and agriculture sectors. Our findings are based on a review of data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) dashboard.
General trends
- 6,636 shipments were detained in the first half of 2025—a sharp increase compared to the 4,619 shipments detained in all of 2024.
- The automotive sector accounts for nearly 86% of detentions compared with 4% in 2024.
- China represents 82.8% of detained shipments in 2025 to date. The percentage of Chinese shipments denied entry have slightly increased from 61.6% in 2024 to 77%.
Apparel sector
- 377 Apparel shipment have been detained in the first half of 2025, falling below half of 2024’s total of 876. Apparel moved from the second to third most impacted sector after Automotive and Consumer Goods.
- The percentage of detained shipments that were cleared dropped from 34.9% in 2024 to 26.9% so far in 2025. This may be because importers are choosing to export goods that are detained rather than try to clear them.
- Most Apparel shipments detained are from China (66.3%).
- Vietnam saw a significant drop in enforcements and is less than 1% of all apparel detentions compared to 23% in 2024.
- Last year’s reported uptick in Bangladesh shipments being detained has not continued. No apparel shipments from Bangladesh have been detained to date in 2025.
Agriculture sector
- There are no major changes to Agriculture detentions from last year.
- Agriculture is the fifth most impacted sector, behind Automotive, Consumer Products, Apparel and Electronics.
- China accounts for 94% of all Agriculture detentions with 70% being denied entry.