Section 307 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of goods made by forced labor.  In the original law, there was a loophole that allowed for the importation of such goods as long as the United States did not produce the good in sufficient quantity to meet demand.  As a result, it was very difficult to ban the importation of goods under the law.  In 2016, the loophole, commonly referred to as the consumptive demand loophole, was eliminated, and in September 2019 Customs and Border Patrol announced that they were issuing five withhold release orders.

With this increased activity came an increased interest in learning about how to effectively use this tool to prevent goods made with forced labor from entering the United States.  Below is information on filing a complaint, a compendium of complaints filed by civil society organizations, and information on withhold release orders and finding.  You may also wish to review Human Trafficking Legal Center’s guide, Importing Freedom: Using the U.S. Tariff Act to Combat Forced Labor in Supply Chains, which provides the nuts and bolts for filing a petition.

To help the public understand the process from receiving a complaint to stopping goods at the border, Customs and Border Patrol developed a graphic detailing the steps.

19 C.F.R § 12.42 lays out the requirements for submitting a complaint.  It allows CBP to self-initiate an investigation or they can investigate after receiving communication from anyone who has reason to believe that goods that are likely to be imported are made with forced labor.  The public can submit a complaint using the e-allegation system.  A complaint from the public must include: 

(1) A full statement of the reasons for the belief;

(2) A detailed description or sample of the merchandise; and

(3) All pertinent facts obtainable as to the production of the merchandise abroad.

Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) developed a fact sheet to explain withhold release orders and findings.

CBP publishes all withhold release orders (WRO) and findings on this page.  Each entry includes the country, type of merchandise, the manufacturer, and the current status of the WRO.  Most WROs are for a good made from a particular manufacturer, however, some ban important of the merchandise produced anywhere in the country.  For example, cotton produced anywhere in Turkmenistan is banned.