DHS Places First Steel and Aspartame PRC-Based Companies on the UFLPA Entity List

UFLPA Entity List Will Now Restrict Goods from 75 PRC-Based Companies from Entering the United States

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the addition of two entities based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, bringing the total entities listed to 75. These additions build on DHS’s commitment to eradicate forced labor and promote accountability for the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). 

Effective October 3, 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply a rebuttable presumption that goods produced by Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co., Ltd. will be prohibited from entering the United States. This is the first time steel and aspartame companies have been added to the UFLPA Entity List.  

“The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is the Biden-Harris Administration’s most powerful tool to combat forced labor and hold its perpetrators to account,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The UFLPA is catalyzing American businesses to fully examine and assess their supply chains and setting a new standard for our international partners as we work together to eradicate forced labor from the global economy. The Department of Homeland Security will continue to add exploitative companies to the UFLPA Entity List, enforce the law, and uphold the values of the United States.” 

Including the two entities identified today, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF) – chaired by DHS and whose member agencies also include the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justice, Labor, State, and the Treasury – has added 75 entities to the UFLPA Entity List since the UFLPA was signed into law in December 2021. The UFLPA Entity List includes companies that are active in the apparel, agriculture, polysilicon, plastics, chemicals, batteries, household appliances, electronics, and food additives sectors, among others. Identifying these additional entities provides U.S. importers with more information to conduct due diligence and examine their supply chains for risks of forced labor to ensure compliance with the UFLPA. 

“Today’s actions reaffirm our commitment to eliminating forced labor from U.S. supply chains and upholding our values of human rights for all,” said DHS Under Secretary for Policy Robert Silvers. “No sector is off-limits. We will continue to identify entities across industries and hold accountable those who seek to profit from exploitation and abuse.” 

The FLETF has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that the below entities meet the criteria for inclusion in the UFLPA Entity List. One entity meets the criterion under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii) of the UFLPA by working with the government of the XUAR to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the XUAR.  The other entity meets the criterion under Section 2(d)(2)(B)(v) of the UFLPA, which identifies facilities and entities that source material from the XUAR or from persons working with the government of XUAR or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for the purposes of the “poverty alleviation” program or the “pairing assistance” program or any other government labor scheme that uses forced labor.   

Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd (“Xinjiang Bayi”), also known as Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Baosteel Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Bayi Iron and Steel, is a company based in the Urumqi Prefecture of the XUAR that is engaged in iron ore mining and steel manufacturing. Its main products include rebar, hot-rolled coils, and medium and thick steel plates. The United States government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that Xinjiang Bayi works with the government of the XUAR to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or members of other persecuted groups out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Information reviewed by the FLETF, including publicly available information, indicates that Xinjiang Bayi has repeatedly participated in the transfer and receipt of ethnic minorities from the XUAR, likely including Uyghurs and/or Kyrgyz, through the Xinjiang government labor programs in Kashgar and Hotan Prefectures and Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture.  The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii). 

Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co., Ltd., also known as GSweet, Changzhou Guanghui Food Technology Co., Ltd., Changzhou Guanghui Food Additive Co., Ltd., and previously known as Changzhou Guanghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd., is a company headquartered in Jiangsu, China, that produces and sells aspartame, an artificial sweetener and food additive. The United States government has reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulable information, that Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co., Ltd. sources material from the XUAR. Information reviewed by the FLETF, including publicly available information, indicates that Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co., Ltd. sources L-Phenylalanine (a production input used to manufacture aspartame) and aspartame from the XUAR. The FLETF therefore determined that the activities of Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co., Ltd. satisfy the criteria for addition to the UFLPA Entity List described in section 2(d)(2)(B)(v). 

Today’s announcement also includes a technical correction as one previously announced entity has changed its name.  

Changhong Meiling Co., Ltd (formerly Hefei Meiling Co., Ltd.; Hefei Meiling Group Holding Limited), is a company based in Anhui Province, China that is principally engaged in the research and development, manufacture, and sales of household appliances. The company's main products include refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, washing machines, small appliances, and kitchen appliances. In June 2022, the entity was added to the UFLPA Entity List under section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii) as Hefei Meiling Co., Ltd. with one known alias, Hefei Meiling Group Holdings Limited. Information reviewed by the FLETF, including publicly available information, indicates that the entity formerly known as Hefei Meiling Co., Ltd., has changed its name to Changhong Meiling Co., Ltd. Therefore, the FLETF has determined to change the name of the entity as it appears on Section 2(d)(2)(B)(ii) to “Changhong Meiling Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Hefei Meiling Co., Ltd; Hefei Meiling Group Holdings Limited).” 

The bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., in December 2021, mandates that CBP apply a rebuttable presumption that goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the XUAR or produced by entities identified on the UFLPA Entity List are prohibited from importation into the United States unless the Commissioner of CBP determines, by clear and convincing evidence, that the goods were not produced with forced labor. CBP began enforcing the UFLPA in June 2022. Since then, CBP has reviewed over 9,000 shipments valued at more than $3.4 billion under the UFLPA. Additionally, Homeland Security Investigations, through the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, conducts criminal investigations into those engaging in or otherwise knowingly benefitting from forced labor, and collaborates with international partners to seek justice for victims.