Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Customs and Border Protection

has detained nearly $43 million in shipments of electronics

equipment from India since October under a 2022 law banning

goods made with forced labor, according to agency data,

representing a new focus for the trade enforcement agency.

While CBP does not specify what types of electronic

equipment it has detained, polysilicon, a raw material in solar

panels, is identified as a high-priority sector in the Uyghur

Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and solar panels have

historically made up most of the stopped shipments in that

category, according to industry sources.

The CBP did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

The law bans goods made in China's Xinjiang region where

Chinese authorities are reported to have established labor camps

for ethnic Uyghur and other Muslim groups.

China denies any abuses.

No Indian electronics shipments were detained under the

UFLPA in previous years.

Nearly a third of the detained Indian electronics shipments

were denied, according to CBP. By comparison, just 5.4% of

shipments from top U.S. solar component suppliers Malaysia,

Vietnam and Thailand were denied entry over that period.

The Indian detentions represent a small share of the $3

billion in electronics shipments CBP has stopped at the border

under the UFLPA in the last two years.

But they are a setback for Indian producers seeking to cast

themselves as an alternative for U.S. solar project developers

weary of navigating tariffs and UFLPA enforcement delays on

panels made by mainly Chinese companies.

"If the solar cells for Indian panels are coming from China,

then there is likely a good reason why detentions of Indian

products may be increasing," said Tim Brightbill, a trade

attorney with Wiley Rein LLP. "My sense is that Customs and

Border Protection did not realize for a while that many Indian

solar panels contained Chinese solar cells, and therefore the

UFLPA risks were (and are) high."

Imports of solar products from India have soared in recent

years, hitting $2.3 billion last year, according to U.S. trade

data.

In the second quarter of 2024, India accounted for 11% of

U.S. panel imports, more than double its share in the previous

quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

As recently as 2018, the U.S. was not importing any solar

panels from India.

The increased scrutiny of Indian shipments is a reflection

of the border agency's recent efforts to broaden UFLPA

enforcement beyond just the biggest China-based solar panel

makers, which have replaced their Chinese polysilicon suppliers

with sources from the United States and Europe in a bid to avoid

their shipments being detained, according to a trade attorney.

"Indian module manufacturers found an opportunity to import

more at a time when the Chinese manufacturers were being held up

because of UFLPA," Richard Mojica, a trade attorney with Miller

& Chevalier in Washington said.

Waaree Technologies and Adani Enterprises

are the top Indian solar suppliers to the U.S. market.

A spokesperson for Adani confirmed that some of its

shipments had been detained and that all had been released.

"This outcome reaffirms that our products imported into the

U.S. fully comply with UFLPA regulations, reinforcing customer

confidence in the quality, reliability and legal adherence of

our products and manufacturing," the spokesperson said.

Waaree did not respond to requests for comment.