Two lists changed within days of each other. Anyone running China supply-chain compliance should read both.

The US Department of Homeland Security on July 31 added over 40 Chinese entities to its list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, restricting their products from entering the US market. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) called the move “economic coercion”.

MOFCOM announced on August 5 countermeasures against six US entities under the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law. It includes familiar names in supply-chain assurance, the Responsible Business Alliance and Verite Group, as well as Applied DNA Sciences, Stratum Reservoir, Altana Technologies and Human Rights in China. The decision bans organisations and individuals within China from doing business and cooperating with the six.

How does it work in practice? Companies with China operations that rely on the listed organisations for audits, memberships or assessments have to review those arrangements against the new decision, while shipments bound for the US are subject to expanded screening on the other side.

Supplier due diligence isn’t going anywhere. If anything the need just grew. What has changed is how it gets delivered, and companies will need partners who can do this work on the ground, within China’s legal environment.