Jordan Suppliers to Columbia and Under Armour Face U.S. Forced Labor Ban
The Trump administration said Tuesday it has begun barring imports of clothing made by two affiliated manufacturers in Jordan after finding evidence their products were made with forced labor.
Needle Craft and Casual Wear, owned by Needle Craft Clothing Industry, produce garments for major American brands such as Columbia and Under Armour, according to public supplier lists.
“CBP’s forced labor enforcement exposes supply chains that undermine the integrity of U.S. commerce,” Susan S. Thomas, executive assistant commissioner of Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Trade, said in a statement. “These actions mark CBP’s fifth and sixth WROs this fiscal year, stopping more goods tied to exploitative labor practices from entering U.S. markets.”
Needle Craft Clothing Industry did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did Columbia or Under Armour. Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), a social auditing firm linked with Needle Craft on Open Supply Hub as of April, also did not respond to an email seeking information.
CBP said it issued the WROs under Section 307 of the 1930 Tariff Act, the primary U.S. law prohibiting the importation of goods made wholly or in part by forced, convict and indentured child labor, after an investigation and information review uncovered abusive living and working conditions, excessive overtime, intimidation and threats, physical and sexual violence, withholding of wages and other indicators of forced labor as defined by the International Labor Organization.
Trade import data showed the goods are being or are likely to be imported into the United States, the agency added.
“This is a significant development for the apparel industry, as Needle Craft is a widely used supplier for many brands and retailers,” Kelly Nelson, managing director of trade and customs at KPMG U.S., wrote on LinkedIn. “For companies sourcing from Jordan, now is a good time to evaluate potential exposure and understand what actions may be needed if shipments are impacted.”
Jordan counts the United States as one of its largest individual export markets, having been a long-term beneficiary of a U.S. free trade agreement that entered into force in 2001 and eliminated duties in 2010. In 2025, Jordan’s exports to the U.S. reached roughly $3.1 billion, down 8.3 percent from 2024. Of this total, about $2 billion comprised clothing and textiles.
While CBP didn’t say what triggered the WROs, a 2024 Jordanian labor ministry report said the inquiry followed coverage by The i Paper of the suicide of a 21-year-old Bangladeshi woman at Fine Apparels—also owned by Needle Craft Clothing Industry—that same year.
A family member told the outlet that Tureza Akter, who had been at the factory for only a month, was “tortured” by her supervisor, including being slapped with a pipe. Other sources later came forward with accounts of workers facing sexual harassment, passport confiscation, 16-hour days and seven-day workweeks.
Even so, Fine Apparels, which made clothing for American Eagle, Columbia and Under Armour at the time and was audited by WRAP as of 2025, is not subject to a WRO. Following the report, Needle Craft Clothing Industry said it would work to “prevent any potential future occurrences,” and all three brands committed to taking remedial action.
“Under Armour and Columbia assured customers they were taking action to protect the workers at Needle Craft. Evidently, those assurances were false,” Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a Washington, D.C.-based labor rights group, told Sourcing Journal.
Conditions for migrant workers in Jordan are not only brutal but among the worst in the global apparel supply chain, Nova said.
They have also likely deteriorated after U.S. foreign aid cuts in 2025 shut down the ILO-founded Al Hassan Workers’ Center, which provided legal, mental health, recreational and grievance referral services for migrants from countries such as Bangladesh, India and the Philippines. Better Work Jordan, an ILO-backed initiative established in 2008 at the request of the U.S. and Jordanian governments in response to widespread labor rights violations in the country’s garment sector, is also on indefinite pause due to lack of funding.
Similarly, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, which was tasked with monitoring and improving labor standards under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, has been sharply curtailed by the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting measures.
“This is a wake-up call for every brand and retailer sourcing there—from Walmart to Hugo Boss to Fabletics—that the situation is unsustainable,” Nova said.
