You lose Trade Assurance, Alibaba's refund promise. It only covers orders made on Alibaba and paid to the account the order names. What you keep either way is the part it never did: checking the supplier and the goods against U.S. rules.
Check a supplier — free →| If this happens | Ordered and paid on Alibaba | Paid to the supplier directly |
|---|---|---|
| The supplier ships late or not at all | You can ask Alibaba for a refund | No Alibaba refund promise |
| The goods don't match the order | You can ask Alibaba for a refund | No Alibaba refund promise |
| Promised papers never arrive | You can ask Alibaba for a refund | No Alibaba refund promise |
| The goods break the law | No refund, by Alibaba's own rules | No refund |
| Checking the supplier against U.S. lists | Not done by Alibaba | Not done by Alibaba |
| Who answers to U.S. customs | The importer, usually you | The importer, usually you |
The refund promise only covers orders made on Alibaba and paid to the account written in the order.
Source: Alibaba.com Trade Assurance Services Rules, Part A (effective 26 Dec 2025); 16 CFR 1110.7(a); DHS UFLPA FAQ
Trade Assurance is Alibaba's refund promise. If the supplier ships late, sends the wrong goods, or never sends the papers it promised, you can ask Alibaba for your money back.
The catch is how you order. The order has to be made on Alibaba and paid to the account written in that order. Pay the supplier some other way and the promise doesn't apply.
It doesn't check whether the supplier is on a U.S. government list. And if the goods break the law, Alibaba's own rules say you get no refund.
Say the supplier is on the UFLPA Entity List. U.S. law presumes its goods were made with forced labor, and customs can keep them out. Trade Assurance was never checking for that, on Alibaba or off it.
The importer, and that's usually you. For a children's product, the importer is the one who issues the certificate (the CPC). If goods are held under the forced-labor law, the importer is the one who has to prove they weren't made with forced labor.
So going direct doesn't add this job. It was yours all along.
First, get the company's registered name, not its shop name. On a verified supplier's Alibaba page, the Verified Supplier badge opens a Business license box with the registered company name and registration number.
Second, check that name against the U.S. government lists: the UFLPA Entity List, CBP's withhold release orders and the sanctions lists. The free check at the end of this page does it.
Many smaller suppliers in China aren't in the company registries the check looks in. That's normal and doesn't mean the company is fake. You can still check the registered name exactly as you type it.
Third, put the papers you need in the written order. Want the lab test report? Write it in. Without Trade Assurance, the order is what you have to point to.
That's your call. If the saving is small, keeping the refund promise may be worth more than the discount. The three checks above apply either way.
The free supplier check checks the name you give it against the UFLPA Entity List, CBP's withhold release orders and the federal sanctions lists, including the other names each list records, and shows the date of each list. If the company is in the global company registry (GLEIF), its parent company is checked too.
Check a supplier — free →Checking the supplier is the first step of the plan for your product. The plan lists the rest in order, with a source for each line. It's free, with no signup.
See the plan for your product →The rules on this page do change — an eFiling date, a list, a threshold. Leave an email and a short note goes out if one does: a few a year at most, one click to stop, and the address is used for nothing else. A summary of the guide and a link arrive now, as confirmation.
Information current as of 2026-09-29.
This report is an automated, informational screening tool only. Tiana & Co. is not a licensed customs broker and does not conduct customs business. This report does not constitute legal advice, a compliance determination, or a certification of admissibility for any supplier, product, or shipment.
Verdicts in this report are produced by deterministic code, not by a language model. The explanatory paragraph accompanying each check is model-generated and checked against the cited sources before delivery. No part of this report is reviewed by a person before it is issued, so every material finding and citation should be confirmed against the underlying government source before it is relied on.
This report reflects data available as of the report date. The OFAC SDN and Consolidated lists, the other U.S. Consolidated Screening List constituents, the UFLPA Entity List, CBP withhold release orders, CPSC's eFiling list, and regulatory guidance are updated frequently and without prior notice. Users should re-screen periodically and consult qualified counsel for compliance decisions.
Name-similarity results do not establish or rule out the identity of any company. Where multiple similarly named records exist, none should be treated as confirmed without independent verification against the primary government source.
This tool is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or any other government agency. No warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of any finding.
Use of this report for import, procurement, sanctions-compliance, or investment decisions is at the user's own risk. Anyone with compliance obligations under UFLPA, OFAC, or CPSC regulations should consult qualified legal counsel before making a transactional decision.
This report is an automated, informational screening tool only. Tiana & Co. is not a licensed customs broker and does not conduct customs business. This report does not constitute legal advice, a compliance determination, or a certification of admissibility for any supplier, product, or shipment.
Verdicts in this report are produced by deterministic code, not by a language model. The explanatory paragraph accompanying each check is model-generated and checked against the cited sources before delivery. No part of this report is reviewed by a person before it is issued, so every material finding and citation should be confirmed against the underlying government source before it is relied on.
This report reflects data available as of the report date. The OFAC SDN and Consolidated lists, the other U.S. Consolidated Screening List constituents, the UFLPA Entity List, CBP withhold release orders, CPSC's eFiling list, and regulatory guidance are updated frequently and without prior notice. Users should re-screen periodically and consult qualified counsel for compliance decisions.
Name-similarity results do not establish or rule out the identity of any company. Where multiple similarly named records exist, none should be treated as confirmed without independent verification against the primary government source.
This tool is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or any other government agency. No warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of any finding.
Use of this report for import, procurement, sanctions-compliance, or investment decisions is at the user's own risk. Anyone with compliance obligations under UFLPA, OFAC, or CPSC regulations should consult qualified legal counsel before making a transactional decision.