Your supply chain doesn’t end at your supplier. Neither does your liability.

Three risks are converging on the same shipments.

Sanctions. Evasion networks use transshipment hubs, shell companies, and last-minute routing changes, and regulators now expect you to screen your cargo, not just your counterparties.

Forced labor. U.S. law presumes goods linked to restricted regions or entities were made with forced labor unless you prove otherwise.

And one blacklisted component several tiers down got thousands of luxury vehicles stopped at U.S. ports in 2024.

Add country-level forced labor tariffs in the U.S. and an outright EU product ban fully applicable at the end of 2027.

Then there’s human trafficking, which rarely announces itself.

Look for workers in debt from recruitment fees, employers holding passports, delayed wages or inflated deductions, and overtime enforced by threats.

The fix is the same for all three.

See below the first tier.

Assess residual risk based on a supplier’s tested controls rather than its ZIP code.

Write enforceable contract terms, verify with audits and worker channels, and fix root causes instead of simply dropping a supplier.

Build evidence, not a policy binder, before a customs officer asks a question you can’t answer.

The Ethics and Compliance Q and A show is produced by One Stone Creative.