On June 12, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency responsible for administering and enforcing statutes which prohibits the importation of products made with forced labor, published new consolidated guidance addressing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), and Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (Section 307) (the Guidance). The new Guidance is CBP's clearest statement to date on the compliance expectations applicable to importers under forced labor laws.

Notably, the Guidance makes clear that diligently reviewing supply chains for forced labor risks is not merely a tool for reducing the risk of detention or to proactively mitigate future penalties. Rather, it is an indispensable component of an importer's "reasonable care" obligations. 

In light of the administration's consistent messaging that it is continuing to prioritize enforcement of anti-forced labor laws, companies should take steps to ensure that their due diligence processes are aligned with CBP's compliance expectations. 

What is "Reasonable Care"?

Since the early 1990s, customs laws have required importers to exercise reasonable care when entering goods into the U.S.¹ In a September 2017 guidance specifically addressing the "reasonable care" standard, CBP stated that the term "defies easy explanation." However, the agency encouraged importers to ask certain questions which, if answered affirmatively, indicate that the importer is meeting the standard of reasonable care.

As it relates to forced labor concerns, the 2017 guidance encouraged importers to ask the basic question: "Have you taken reliable measures to ensure imported goods are not produced wholly or in part with convict labor, forced labor, and/or indentured labor (including forced or indentured child labor)?"

The 2017 guidance further instructed importers to consider, for example:

• "Do you know how your goods are made, from raw materials to finished goods, by whom, where, and under what labor conditions?"
• "Have you established a reliable procedure of conducting periodic internal audits to check for forced labor in your supply chain?"
• "Do you have a comprehensive and transparent social compliance system in place? Have you reviewed the Department of Labor's (DOL) 'Comply Chain' webpage?"
• "Have you developed a reliable program or procedure to maintain and produce any required customs entry documentation and supporting information?"

If an importer violates the duty of exercising reasonable care, the importer can be required to pay civil penalties, which vary depending on whether the importer's misconduct qualifies as fraud, gross negligence, or negligence.²

While the 2017 guidance noted that it was offered merely as guidance and had no "legal, binding or precedential effect on CBP or the importing community," the clear message was that importers could violate U.S. law if they turned a blind eye to risks of forced labor in supply chains, and that they should make efforts to obtain visibility into high-risk supply chains. 

Confirmation that Forced Labor Due Diligence Is a Must-Have 

CBP's new Guidance confirms what the 2017 guidance implied: "As an importer, conducting due diligence to address forced labor is critical... for compliance with U.S. forced labor laws like the UFLPA.... [I]mporters are required to exercise 'reasonable care' by providing CBP with accurate and complete information about goods, including classification, valuation, and other necessary documentation, when importing merchandise. Exercising reasonable care... also involves ensuring that the information provided to CBP demonstrates compliance with forced labor related import laws, including verifying that imported goods are free of materials produced, wholly or in part, with forced labor. To comply with forced labor-related import laws, importers must proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks in their supply chains, particularly for goods... originating from high-risk regions like [the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)]...." (emphasis added).

Elaborating on CBP's expectations for due diligence, the Guidance sets out a case study that follows an importer seeking to comply with forced labor laws before importing. At each stage of the supply chain review process, the importer takes steps that reflect best practices:

• Conducted risk-based screening of prospective suppliers using publicly available resources and CBP tools, including internet searches, the UFLPA Entity List, CBP's Withhold Release Orders (WROs) and Findings Dashboard, ImportWatch, and the DOL's forced labor lists.
• Mapped and traced the full supply chain to the raw material level, verifying the country of origin of inputs and confirming that materials were not sourced from the XUAR, UFLPA-listed entities, or other forced labor-linked sources by reviewing transactional, transportation, production, and labor records from suppliers at each tier of the supply chain to substantiate the absence of forced labor risks.
• Implemented ongoing supply chain monitoring and verification measures, including the use of third-party audits, risk assessments, supply chain transparency tools, and monitoring of public reports and allegations involving forced labor risks.
• Made efforts to gather documentation to prepare for a detention (i.e., conducted a mock detention) when the importer identified a red flag of potential XUAR sourcing, to test whether they could quickly assemble the documentation needed to respond to a CBP detention notice. 

Conclusion

To comply with importers' legal obligation to exercise reasonable care, importers with exposure to forced labor risks in supply chains should maintain processes for:

• Mapping supply chains to the raw material level and verifying the origin of key inputs
• Obtaining and reviewing supplier, production, transportation, labor, and transactional records sufficient to substantiate the absence of forced labor risks
• Maintaining ongoing monitoring and verification processes, including risk assessments, audits, transparency tools, and review of public reports or allegations
• Preparing to respond to CBP detentions by organizing traceability documentation and conducting mock detention exercises where red flags or elevated risks are identified

As evidenced by its recent Section 301 investigation into imports made with forced labor, the administration views forced labor enforcement as a trade priority and is likely to continue pressing companies to strengthen supply-chain due diligence and documentation. Companies should understand these due diligence activities not simply as nice-to-haves for mitigating risks of detention and reputational harm, but as critical activities necessary to comply with an importers' legal obligations. 

If you are considering reviewing your due diligence efforts for forced labor risks, Miller & Chevalier's Business and Human Rights team is available to assist with strategy and implementation of due diligence. 

For more information, please contact:

Nate Lankford, nlankford@milchev.com, 202-626-5978

Richard A. Mojica, rmojica@milchev.com, 202-626-1571

Igor Sampley dos Santos, isampleydossantos@milchev.com, 202-626-6077

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¹19 U.S.C. § 1484.

²See 19 U.S.C. § 1592.

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