Executive order escalates customs enforcement against tariff evasion

On 3 June 2026 President Trump signed Executive Order 14411, “Strengthening Customs Enforcement,” directing the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Justice to escalate enforcement against tariff evasion, transshipment to disguise country of origin, and counterfeit imports.¹ The order comes in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 20 February 2026 ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that IEEPA does not authorise tariffs and the U.S. Court of International Trade’s 7 May 2026 ruling holding the § 122 surcharge unlawful (with an injunction limited to three plaintiffs), which together make residual § 232 and § 301 duties (and the AD/CVD orders administered by USDOC/USITC) the principal tariff regimes subject to evasion enforcement.²³ The customs-enforcement architecture rests on the Tariff Act of 1930 (46 Stat. 590) and successor amendments.

1. Civil enforcement against duty evasion proceeds under 19 U.S.C. § 1592 (penalties for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence in entry of goods), with penalties under § 1592(c) graduated by mental state: intentional fraud up to the domestic value of the merchandise; gross negligence up to four times the lawful duty loss (or 40 percent of dutiable value for non-revenue violations); negligence up to two times the lawful duty loss (or 20 percent of dutiable value).⁴ CBP administers § 1592 cases under the mitigation framework at 19 C.F.R. Part 171. Collection actions are brought in the U.S. Court of International Trade under 28 U.S.C. § 1582. Reverse false claims liability — knowingly concealing or avoiding an obligation to pay money to the United States, including customs duties — attaches under 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(G) of the False Claims Act, with private qui tam actions available under § 3730.⁵ Drawback fraud carries its own penalty under 19 U.S.C. § 1593a.⁶

2. The principal anti-transshipment enforcement tool is the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) of 2015, Pub. L. 114-125, codified at 19 U.S.C. § 1517, which establishes a CBP administrative proceeding against evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders with statutory timelines: initiation within 15 business days of a sufficient allegation; interim measures within 90 days where there is reasonable suspicion; affirmative or negative determination within 300 days (extendable).⁷⁸ Substantial-transformation country-of-origin determinations are made under CBP rulings and judicial doctrine (not 19 C.F.R. Part 102, which governs NAFTA/USMCA marking origin), with country-of-origin marking enforcement under 19 U.S.C. § 1304 (10 percent additional duty for failure to mark under § 1304(i)).⁹ § 321 de minimis shipments under 19 U.S.C. § 1321 are administered through CBP entry procedures and are a continuing area of enforcement focus following the IEEPA-tariff de minimis withdrawals that preceded the SCOTUS invalidation.¹⁰

3. Criminal enforcement against entry-by-false-statements proceeds under 18 U.S.C. § 542 (with HSI investigating and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices prosecuting), and smuggling under 18 U.S.C. § 545.¹¹¹² Counterfeit- goods enforcement rests on 18 U.S.C. § 2320 (criminal trafficking in counterfeit goods, as amended by the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act of 2006, Pub. L. 109-181), with CBP seizure authority under 19 U.S.C. § 1526(e) (mandatory seizure of merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark), the Lanham Act customs provisions at 15 U.S.C. § 1124, and CBP IPR recordation and enforcement under 19 C.F.R. Part 133.¹³¹⁴¹⁵ CBP Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs) coordinate industry-specialised enforcement; customs-broker licensing discipline under 19 U.S.C. § 1641 supplies the regulatory gatekeeper for entries filed by licensed brokers.¹⁶¹⁷