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A Warning for Importers: A CBP Prior Disclosure Does Not Count for DOJ

On October 1, 2026, DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division issued Directive 26-12, which makes trade fraud a corporate enforcement priority and lists ten factors prosecutors must weigh in deciding whether to charge a company. In recent remarks, a government official added a point every importer should hear: a prior disclosure filed with CBP does not count as a voluntary self-disclosure for DOJ purposes. Importers, their executives, and the companies that buy from them, now face a dedicated DOJ trade fraud section, data-driven lead generation, and a sharp focus on country of origin. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

  • DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division issued Directive 26-12 on October 1, 2026, listing customs-related fraud as one of four corporate investigation priorities and naming ten factors prosecutors must place great weight on when deciding whether to charge a company. 
  • A CBP prior disclosure is not a voluntary self-disclosure to DOJ. DOJ’s Corporate Enforcement Policy states that disclosures made only to regulatory agencies generally do not qualify. 
  • Country of origin fraud is the leading pattern. The government official said more than half of the trade fraud cases over the past year involved country of origin. 
  • Never filing an entry with CBP is not a defense. Earlier this year, a company pleaded guilty and paid a $6,382,000 fine for buying imported plywood it knew(or was willfully blind to the fact […]
By |2026-10-09T11:15:19-04:00October 8, 2026|U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)|0 Comments
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CBP Will Void Importer of Record Numbers Beginning September 18, 2026

What Every Importer and Customs Broker Must Verify on CBP Form 5106 in the Next 30 Days

CBP published a federal register notice on August 19, 2026 announcing that, beginning September 18, 2026, it will immediately void importer of record numbers when the information on CBP Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete. A voided IOR number is invalid for every purpose, including making entry, which means cargo stops at the port with no advance warning. This article explains what CBP is verifying, why several long-accepted industry practices are now defects, and the corrective steps importers and brokers should take before the enforcement date. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

  • Effective September 18, 2026, CBP will void importer of record (IOR) numbers where the information on CBP Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete. A voided number cannot be used for any purpose, including making entry. 
  • The physical address on file must be the actual location of the business or individual. A registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder, P.O. box, business service center, or any other party’s address is now a defect. 
  • The email address and phone number must belong to the IOR. Broker or forwarder contact information in those fields no longer passes. 
  • Customs brokers must hold a power of attorney executed directly with the […]
By |2026-08-21T11:07:02-04:00August 21, 2026|U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on CBP Will Void Importer of Record Numbers Beginning September 18, 2026
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$5.15 Million Settlement Highlights Growing Customs Enforcement Under the False Claims Act

Short summary: A Taiwanese manufacturer has agreed to pay $5.15 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by underpaying customs duties on imported goods. According to the Department of Justice, the company used improper customs practices to reduce duties owed to CBP, resulting in significant lost tariff revenue. The settlement underscores the federal government’s continued focus on customs enforcement and the growing use of the False Claims Act to pursue alleged duty evasion. 

The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a Taiwan-led manufacturer agreed to pay $5.15 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act and related administrative claims involving customs duties owed on imported goods. While the company did not admit liability, the settlement serves as another reminder that customs compliance remains a significant enforcement priority for the federal government. 

The Case – What Happened 

According to the DOJ, the alleged conduct went well beyond a simple classification error. The government alleged that the company used multiple methods over several years to reduce the customs duties it owed on imports. Specifically: 

  • Country of Origin Misrepresentations: From July 2018 through January 2022, Everlight allegedly knowingly misrepresented the country of origin on Chinese-manufactured LEDs. Everlight knew these products were manufactured in China, and then transshipped to Taiwan, before shipping them to the U.S.  Everlight allegedly misrepresented to CBP that the products originated in Taiwan rather […]
By |2026-08-10T12:28:34-04:00August 10, 2026|Enforcement, Import, International Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on $5.15 Million Settlement Highlights Growing Customs Enforcement Under the False Claims Act
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USTR Announces Section 301 Action Imposing New Tariffs on 60 Trading Partners 

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced a new Section 301 action imposing additional tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies that fail to prohibit or effectively enforce bans on goods produced with forced labor. The action covers the top 60 U.S. trading partners, representing 99.4% of U.S. imports, and took effect July 24, 2026. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued entry filing guidance in CSMS #69326983, including the applicable Chapter 99 tariff headings. 

Key Takeaways 

  • Effective July 24, 2026, USTR imposed additional Section 301 duties of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies covering 99.4% of U.S. imports, based on findings that these economies failed to adopt or effectively enforce forced labor import prohibitions. 
  • CBP issued entry filing instructions in CSMS #69326983, including the Chapter 99 headings (9903.05.20 through 9903.06.21), reporting sequence, and Foreign Trade Zone admission requirements. 
  • Goods entered duty free under USMCA (Canada and Mexico) are exempt, as are CAFTA-DR textiles and apparel, Section 232 articles, civil aircraft, pharmaceutical articles, informational materials, and donations. There is also a list of miscellaneous products exempt no matter what their country of origin. 
  • An in-transit exception applies to goods loaded and in transit on the final mode before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 24, 2026, and entered before 12:01 a.m. ET on July 28, 2026. 

Why USTR Took Action

By |2026-07-24T10:11:00-04:00July 24, 2026|Forced Labor, International Trade, Tariffs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on USTR Announces Section 301 Action Imposing New Tariffs on 60 Trading Partners 
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CAPE Phase II Is Live: Most IEEPA Duties Are Now Refund-Eligible — Here’s How to Claim Yours 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

  • As of June 29, 2026, CBP’s CAPE system reached Phase II — enhanced processing for reconciliation-flagged entries, making the large majority of IEEPA duties eligible for refund. 
  • Refunds are not automatic for every entry type. Eligibility, filing method, and ACH enrollment all matter — and finally, liquidated entries are treated differently depending on whether you filed a CIT lawsuit. 
  • The window rewards speed and documentation. Importers who reconcile their IEEPA-dutied entries now will recover capital sooner; those who wait risk falling into later, slower phases. 

Tariff Refunds – a Moving Target 

If your business paid duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), you have likely been watching a moving target: litigation over whether those duties were lawfully collected, a refund mechanism built in phases, and shifting guidance on which entries qualify and when. The result is paralysis — many importers know money may be owed back to them, but cannot tell whether, how, or when to claim it. 

That uncertainty has a real cost. Every month, a refund-eligible entry that sits unaddressed, working capital tied up at CBP rather than in your business. And because the refund framework is being rolled out in stages, the entries you can act on today are not the same as the ones you will be able to act on next month — sequencing matters. 

CAPE Phase II Now […]

By |2026-06-29T09:50:13-04:00June 29, 2026|ACE, Import, Tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on CAPE Phase II Is Live: Most IEEPA Duties Are Now Refund-Eligible — Here’s How to Claim Yours 
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De Minimis, Codified: CBP Finalizes the Postal Suspension Rule — July 24 Comment Deadline

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

  • De minimis is not new news — the $800 duty-free exemption was already suspended for all countries on August 29, 2025. What’s new is CBP’s interim final rule codifying the postal piece and creating a formal postal informal entry process. 
  • Two key dates: the postal IFR takes effect July 24, 2026 (compliance by October 22, 2026), and public comments on the rulemaking are due July 24, 2026. 
  • If your business ships low-value parcels by mail, the entry mechanics are now being locked into regulation. The comment window is your one chance to shape them before they harden. 

De Minimis Is Over. Now CBP Is Writing the New Rules.

For years, the de minimis exemption was the quiet engine of e-commerce: shipments valued at or under $800 entered the United States free of duty and with minimal formality. That era already ended. As we covered in De Minimis No More: What It Means for Importers and Consumers, a July 30, 2025, Executive Order suspended duty-free de minimis treatment for all countries effective August 29, 2025, accelerating the repeal that the 2025 budget law had set for July 1, 2027. 

So the headline is not that de minimis is ending — it ended ten months ago. The development now is regulatory: CBP is codifying how low-value shipments, particularly through the international mail channel, must be […]

By |2026-06-29T09:44:34-04:00June 29, 2026|Import, Pre-compliance, Tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on De Minimis, Codified: CBP Finalizes the Postal Suspension Rule — July 24 Comment Deadline
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CAPE Now Accepts Reconciliation-Flagged Entries — But File in the Wrong Order and You Forfeit the Refund

If you have entries flagged for reconciliation and a reconciliation deadline inside the next 30 days, the order in which you file has just become a decision that can cost you your IEEPA refund. Under CBP’s June 29, 2026, CAPE deployment, once you file the reconciliation entry (Type 09), the underlying entries are locked out of CAPE in this phase. File the recon first, and you have stripped your own entries of the consolidated IEEPA refund path — permanently, for now. The new functionality is genuinely good news. The trap is in the sequence. 

Key points:

  • New as of June 29, 2026: CAPE will accept entries flagged for reconciliation (Entry Types 01, 02, 06) even when no Type 09 reconciliation entry has been filed yet. 
  • The sequence that wins: File the CAPE Declaration FIRST. CAPE strips the IEEPA duties from the flagged entries, then you file the reconciliation. 
  • The sequence that loses: File the reconciliation entry first. The underlying entries are then ineligible for CAPE in this phase. 
  • Still not covered: Entries where the reconciliation entry is already on file — those wait for a future CAPE phase. 

Same eligibility limits as Phase 1 carry over: unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation only. 

The Challenge: Reconciliation Was a Hole in Phase 1 

When CBP launched Phase 1 of the Consolidated Administration […]

By |2026-06-26T12:30:40-04:00June 26, 2026|ACE, Import, Tariffs, Trade Policy, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on CAPE Now Accepts Reconciliation-Flagged Entries — But File in the Wrong Order and You Forfeit the Refund
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Understanding U.S. Customs Statute of Limitations Waivers: What Importers Need to Know 

When U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seeks to collect unpaid duties, taxes, or penalties, it generally must act within a defined window of time. But that window can be extended — and often is. Understanding how CBP statute of limitations (SOL) waivers work is essential for any importer navigating a customs audit or penalty proceeding. 

The Basic Rule: A Five-Year Limitation Period 

Under 19 U.S.C. § 1621, CBP has five years from the date of a violation to bring an action to recover unpaid duties or assess a penalty. This limitation period is designed to provide finality and protect importers from indefinite exposure. Once the period lapses, CBP’s ability to collect is generally barred. 

What Is a Statute of Limitations Waiver? 

A statute of limitations waiver is a written agreement by which an importer voluntarily extends CBP’s window to assess duties or penalties beyond the standard five-year period. CBP routinely requests these waivers during the course of audits, prior disclosures, and penalty proceedings, particularly when the matter is complex, ongoing, or near the limitations deadline. Standard SOL waivers generally provide CBP with two-year extensions of the SOL. During this time, the importer agrees not to exercise a statute of limitations defense for entries covered by the SOL waiver. 

Waivers are not automatic — they require the importer’s consent. However, in practice, refusing to sign is often not consequence-free. Refusing to sign forces CBP to expedite their […]

By |2026-06-01T10:38:59-04:00June 1, 2026|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Understanding U.S. Customs Statute of Limitations Waivers: What Importers Need to Know 
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Even AI Needs a License – Know When Automation Unlawfully Crosses Into “Customs Business” 

In January of this year, CBP quietly released a ruling (January 16, 2026/CEE.HQ H350722) that demarcates clear boundaries of where AI is permitted to facilitate Customs filings and where such artificial tools cross the “human-brokers-only” line.  

Case Background 

A foreign “Unlicensed Company” was operating an online platform and marketing to importers without seeking approval or a license from CBP. This platform offered four key services: 1) connecting importers to brokers, 2) utilizing an optical character recognition (OCR) tool to cull entry data from shipping documents, 3) generating HTSUS subheading suggestions for specific articles, and 4) submitting CBP Form 5106 on behalf of new importers. The question before CBP was whether the company was conducting customs business without a license. 

CBP Ruling 

In its ruling, CBP stated that the definition of “customs business” is quite broad. To that end, developers could accidentally create agentic parameters that trespass the bounds of what it means to engage in “customs business.” Here are some key takeaways from the ruling: 

  1. “CBP cautioned that an unlicensed entity may not serve as an intermediary between a broker and importer if the unlicensed entity is actively participating ‘in decisions and activities relating to the preparation or filing of Customs documents for imported merchandise, or relating to any other action amounting to customs business.’” However, since the “Unlicensed Company was not actively participating in deciding what information must […]
By |2026-03-30T10:33:53-04:00March 30, 2026|Import, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|Comments Off on Even AI Needs a License – Know When Automation Unlawfully Crosses Into “Customs Business” 
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Potential Government Shutdown on the Horizon and No Contingency Plans in Sight

Government funding will lapse at midnight on Tuesday, September 30, absent Congressional action. With a number of contentious issues still at play, including spending limits, immigration policy, and healthcare funding, some say a shutdown is looking more and more likely.

What makes this potential shutdown different from previous lapses in funding is the lack of contingency plans within the relevant agencies. The White House’s Agency Contingency Plan page is blank. 

Until agencies update their guidance, we can only look to previous contingency plans.

Below is a breakdown of previously issued agency guidance. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s most recent contingency plan (March 2025), cargo inspection functions at ports of entry will remain active during a shutdown. However, certain activities, such as training and auditing, are not required to be carried out during this time. In addition, back-office support positions are not likely to be deemed essential and will be furloughed. Refunds, audits, ruling requests, etc., would be delayed until the shutdown ends.

There remains uncertainty around which specific offices will be deemed essential. For example, Forced Labor Communications may be furloughed, resulting in delays in reviewing the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) allegations.

U.S. Department of Commerce

According to the Department of Commerce’s most recent contingency plan (September 2023), some International Trade Administration (ITA) activities, […]

By |2025-09-26T09:30:46-04:00September 26, 2025|Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of State (DOS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)|Comments Off on Potential Government Shutdown on the Horizon and No Contingency Plans in Sight
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