As CBP pays IEEPA tariff refunds to importers of record through CAPE following the Supreme Court's February 20, 2026 decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, customers, distributors, and importers are asserting competing claims to the same money. Existing force majeure and impracticability precedent addresses government interference that prevents performance, not the ownership of a refund paid after performance is complete.
With less than two hours remaining before a 50 percent tariff took effect on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods, President Trump announced a three day pause and said the two countries had reached a deal. The duties originate in three proclamations issued July 20, 2026 under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a dormant statute no president had previously invoked and for which no implementing regulations or judicial precedents exist.
Over eight days in late July 2026, the Federal Communications Commission added two entire product categories to its Covered List and proposed stripping import and marketing rights from uncrewed aircraft it had already certified. The operative control is equipment authorization rather than a tariff rate: without an FCC authorization, a radio frequency device cannot lawfully be imported, marketed, or sold in the United States.
On August 6, 2026, President Trump imposed a 15 percent Section 232 tariff on polysilicon derivatives plus a minimum import price program covering polysilicon, ingots, wafers, solar cells, and solar modules, effective December 4, 2026. The certification mechanism, not the rate, is the consequential part: a materially inaccurate certification carries a permanent import prohibition.
DOJ’s Trade Fraud Task Force has surpassed $1 billion in recoveries, penalties, forfeitures, and charged losses in under a year. Five customs False Claims Act resolutions announced in 2026 total $583.05 million.
Twenty-five states filed suit in the Court of International Trade on August 3, 2026, seeking to vacate the Section 301 forced-labor tariffs on 60 economies as exceeding the President’s authority and violating the APA.
Largest single expansion of the forced labor Entity List brings total to 187 entities and broadens CBP enforcement risk across multiple high-priority sectors.
In a decision issued July 30, 2026, the Federal Circuit affirmed that ten models of Richard Mille luxury wristwatches imported from Switzerland were properly classified under HTSUS heading 9102 rather than the lower-duty heading 9101.
USTR has formally implemented sweeping additional tariffs on imports from Brazil, confirming a 25 percent ad valorem surcharge on most Brazilian-origin goods for entries on or after July 22, 2026.
Two recent government publications underscore how quickly trade fraud enforcement is intensifying, drawing on CBP's record EAPA duty-evasion milestone and DOJ's expanding trade-fraud enforcement architecture.
CBP's July 30, 2026 CSMS notice implements Section 232 pharma tariffs in ACE. Annex III companies owe duties July 31, 2026; all others report a transitional zero rate until September 29, 2026. Here is what importers must do now.
On July 23, 2026, USTR announced final action in its Section 301 forced-labor investigations, imposing new tariffs on imports from 60 economies, with additional duties effective 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 24, 2026.
On July 20, 2026, President Trump issued a new Section 232 proclamation layering an "onshoring" incentive on top of the already-escalated tariff regime for aluminum, offering eligible importers a reduced rate tied to new U.S. smelter capacity.
On July 20, 2026, President Trump issued three separate proclamations against Canada under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, imposing an additional 50% ad valorem duty on certain Canadian-origin motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages, and dairy.
CBP has issued guidance implementing new country-of-smelt and country-of-cast reporting requirements for imports of certain copper articles subject to Section 232 tariffs, effective July 30, 2026.
The United States has opened an aggressive new front in tariff policy, invoking Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to target roughly 60 economies over their alleged failure to enforce prohibitions on goods made with forced labor.
A revised Senate bill introduced on July 14, 2026, would impose sanctions and tariffs on Russia and on the largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, authorizing secondary tariffs of up to 100 percent on China and India.
USTR heard a second day of testimony on July 8, 2026, in its Section 301 forced-labor investigation, with witnesses divided over proposed tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 59 countries and the European Union.
The 10 percent global import surcharge imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 is scheduled to expire by operation of law at 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 24, 2026, 150 days after it took effect.
On May 8, 2026, the government's appeal of the CIT's decision in State of Oregon v. United States was docketed at the Federal Circuit, testing whether Section 122's balance-of-payments authority supports the 10 percent temporary global tariff.
