An employee works at a textile factory in Awat city, Xinjiang, China, on Nov. 18, 2025. U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained US$171-million worth of goods suspected of being made using forced labour from Xinjiang in 2025.-/AFP/Getty Images
With the United States government on the hunt for ways to replenish its tariff stockpile, one option under consideration is duties aimed at countries that import goods made with forced labour, particularly from China’s Xinjiang region.
But even as the U.S. accuses Canada of not doing enough to halt such shipments, a charge echoed by some human-rights activists, a review of Chinese trade statistics and the U.S.’s recent enforcement record suggests Washington faces gaps in its own approach.
The 2026 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers from the U.S. government, released last week, said it appears Canada is importing goods that cost less than they should because they were made with forced labour.
Analysts say it’s an early indication of how the U.S. will rule on Canada as it pursues investigations of 60 countries under Section 301 (b) of the Trade Act, probes that could result in Washington imposing tariffs of as much as 25 per cent on goods from countries that it deems to be falling short.
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The probes were announced in mid-March. They further the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate China by forcing countries to adopt the same types of strict policies it has.
Yet official statistics suggest U.S. enforcement weakened significantly last year.
In 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained US$171-million worth of goods suspected of being made using forced labour of the mainly Muslim Uyghur minority in China’s Xinjiang region. That represents a drop of nearly 90 per cent from 2024, when the agency detained US$1.38-billion worth of products.
In a December letter to the Department of Homeland Security and CBP, Democratic members of Congress pointed out the agencies’ enforcement of a 2022 law restricting imports from Xinjiang and specified Chinese entities had “decreased significantly” in the wake of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in April, 2025.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a chart of tariffs during a trade announcement in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“These and other data suggest that combatting forced labor is not a priority for this Administration,” they wrote.
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s Liberation Day tariff measures, which had generated roughly US$165-billion in customs revenue. The court’s decision triggered his administration’s hunt for replacement tariffs.
William Pellerin, a partner with McMillan LLP’s international trade group, said the CBP numbers raise “some really important questions” about the aggressiveness with which the United States is investigating how 60 trading partners are handling imports made with forced labour – given its own efforts appear to be abating.
He said it’s possible Chinese companies have reduced shipments of products that are clearly made with forced labour in response to the more onerous import rules. Washington first adopted a “reverse onus” policy in 2020 on goods shipped from Xinjiang, meaning it’s up to importers to prove their shipments are free of forced labour before they are allowed entry to the U.S.
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Mr. Pellerin said it’s “entirely fair” to expect the United States to explain the decline in enforcement as it judges how effectively trading partners are addressing imports made with forced labour.
Nevertheless, he said, even the reduced U.S. enforcement represents more significant action than in Canada. In contrast to the U.S. approach, Canada only blocks shipments if it receives intelligence that warrants inspection.
The Canada Border Services Agency said April 1 that since 2021 it has detained multiple shipments because of concerns that the goods might be products of forced labour. Of these, two were ultimately blocked from entering Canada after CBSA determined that they were produced with forced labour: a shipment of textile products in 2024 and a shipment of frozen seafood in 2025. Both were from China.
CBSA said the remaining detained goods were either permitted entry “upon receipt and review of additional supply chain information,” abandoned by the importer or re-exported out of Canada.
The continuing slump in U.S. enforcement and questions about Canada’s own measures coincide with a spike in goods shipped from the Xinjiang region to both countries last year, according to Chinese customs data.
Exports from the region to Canada jumped 160 per cent from the previous year to US$601-million, while shipments to the U.S. nearly doubled over the same period to US$2.9-billion.
The Chinese statistics show only that the goods were shipped, not how much was ultimately accepted by the destination country.
Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, said it appears the CBP under the Trump administration has relaxed enforcement of forced-labour rules. He speculated that the government may be diverting resources from the Department of Homeland Security to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Still, Mr. Tohti said, the Americans do a much better job than Canada of stopping imports made with forced labour.
In a Jan. 22 statement, human-rights experts appointed by the United Nations warned of “persistent allegations of forced labour affecting Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz minority groups as well as Tibetans” within Xinjiang and other parts of China.
In a post on X last week, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said China rejects all allegations of forced labour and genocide as “baseless.”
For both Canada and the U.S., the top three broad product categories shipped from Xinjiang were toys, games and sports equipment; furniture and bedding; and electrical machinery and equipment.
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The increase in Xinjiang exports to the U.S. stands in contrast to a steep overall decline in Chinese shipments last year as Mr. Trump’s tariffs throttled trade flows. Chinese numbers show total exports plunged 20 per cent while U.S. trade data show shipments fell an even steeper 29.7 per cent.
The discrepancy is a reminder of why many economists treat Chinese statistics with caution.
“When you’re looking at Chinese economic data, you have to be cognizant that we are seeing what is purposely public, but that doesn’t mean it’s the complete picture of what is happening in Xinjiang,” said Shawn Bhimani, assistant professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University, who leads a project using shipping data and artificial intelligence to link forced labour to trade transactions.
He said the drop in U.S. enforcement related to forced labour could stem from the surge in other responsibilities the CBP took on last year, as Mr. Trump unleashed numerous tariffs while also scrapping the “de minimis” exemption that previously allowed millions of shipments worth less than US$800 to enter the U.S. duty-free each day.
At the same time, Prof. Bhimani said, both Canada and the U.S. are “fighting a system of Chinese investment in trade infrastructure in Xinjiang that is expanding rapidly.”
Philippe Rheault, director of the University of Alberta’s China Institute, couldn’t speak to the U.S. enforcement numbers, but he said the Trump administration has demonstrated in recent months that it wants to stabilize its economic relationship with China. “They’ve got a lot on their plate and the last thing they need right now is trade friction with China,” he said.
“They’re trying to move politics aside to have a stable commercial relationship going forward.”