Summary
New data published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicate that solar panels and cells make up the vast majority of the value of shipments detained at the U.S. border under a law banning goods made with Chinese forced labor. The data provide the first detailed breakdown of product types stopped under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) since it was signed into law by former President Joe Biden, and show the solar industry has borne the largest share of enforcement activity.
Detailed findings
CBP’s classification places solar panels and cells in a relatively narrow category identified by a semiconductor devices code. Shipments carrying that code account for $3.26 billion in stopped shipments, which represents 82% of the total $3.94 billion in goods blocked since the law was implemented in 2022, according to the CBP data reviewed for this report. The agency’s data guide references solar goods interchangeably with the identifying code at issue.
The agency did not specify when the newly detailed breakdown was first published, and CBP officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Industry impacts
The enforcement has had operational consequences for the solar industry: companies have furloughed employees and project timelines have been pushed back because of stalled panel shipments. That has occurred at a time when federal data cited in the CBP material show the solar sector has become the top new source of U.S. electricity.
Most of the seized solar shipments originated from Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, which have been leading suppliers of solar panels to the United States in recent years. The CBP data show that more than 79% of the value of halted solar and other semiconductor-coded shipments - roughly $2.5 billion in products - have since been released to U.S. importers.
Enforcement trends and scope
The UFLPA seeks to block goods made in China’s Xinjiang region, where authorities are reported to have established labor camps affecting ethnic Uyghur and other Muslim groups; China’s government denies the allegations of abuse. The law identifies polysilicon, a raw material for solar panels, as a high-priority sector for enforcement.
CBP data show UFLPA enforcement activity has fallen since U.S. President Donald Trump took office last year, with stopped shipments totaling $187.7 million last year, down from $1.78 billion in 2024. In August, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would expand targeting under the UFLPA to additional goods, including steel and copper, which are said to be produced with forced labor.
What remains unclear
The CBP did not indicate when these more granular product breakdowns were first published, and the agency did not provide immediate comment on the figures. The data show a large proportion of stopped solar and semiconductor-coded shipments have been released, but do not detail the specific reasons for releases or the procedures applied in each case.
This reporting presents the CBP figures and the implications for affected sectors without adding further interpretation.