Customs & Trade Law News

August 6, 2026: ITC: Polysilicon report, USITC Pub. 5773, an ex post “effectiveness” evaluations focused on the effectiveness of U.S. efforts at import relief.

July 31, 2026: CBP: CSMS #69395344 implements Section 232 pharma tariffs, requiring Chapter 99 reporting (HTSUS 9903.04.60-9903.04.69) for patented pharmaceutical articles. While filing is required for all, duties apply immediately for companies listed in Annex III to Proclamation 11020, while all other companies are subject to a zero-rate transition period until September 29, 2026. See our full insights post for details on Annex III compliance and mitigation pathways.

July 27, 2026: FMC: An FMC small claims officer ordered a non-vessel-operating common carrier to pay damages to shippers for failing to include information required by 46 U.S.C. 41104(d)(2) in a demurrage invoice.

July 27, 2026: DOJ: Press release: Dallas seafood wholesaler Seafood Supply Co. must pay a $250,000 fine and has been placed on probation for three years for violating two counts of the Lacey Act by falsifying the country of origin of salmon, designating Chilean salmon as product from Scotland or other European countries.

July 22, 2026: POTUS: Trump announced that generic drug imports will remain tariff-free for two years starting Aug. 1, then rise to 100% for one year and 200% thereafter under a phased schedule, though as of July 22 no proclamation, Federal Register notice, or HTS amendment had been issued to implement the rates.

July 22, 2026: USTR: Under a new reciprocal trade agreement, the U.S. will grant Jordan's textile and apparel sector enhanced preferential access and apply a reduced 10% Section 301 forced-labor tariff rate, while Jordan, which already eliminated tariffs on U.S. goods under a 25-year-old deal, agreed to reduce technical trade barriers and to purchase $300 million in U.S. raw materials annually.

July 15, 2026: CIT: Court Orders CAPE Phase 3 IEEPA Refunds Across 3,700 Cases

May 27, 2026: CBP issues guidance on implementation of certain tariff-related elements of the Trade and Security Agreement between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office and the American Institute in Taiwan. See CSMS# 68762890.

May 18, 2026: FCC: The FCC extended and expanded its covered-list waivers issued in January and March, allowing uncrewed aircraft systems, their critical components, and routers produced in a foreign country and authorized for U.S. use before being added to the covered list to continue receiving software and firmware updates until at least Jan. 1, 2029, according to a notice.

May 12, 2026: DOJ: Reports securing one of the largest customs-related False Claims Act recoveries to date — a $549.5 million settlement with two importers and four affiliated warehousing entities accused of evading antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on Chinese-origin aluminum extrusions.

April 24, 2026: DOJ: Press release: Fitness company agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle False Claims Act allegations as to undervaluation of imported goods:

April 27, 2026: IEEPA Class Actions: Two putative class actions against FedEx over IEEPA tariff charges are now pending in the W.D. Tenn., and the parties are moving toward consolidation. Read more.

April 7, 2026: NYT article: 'Definitely a Sham': As Tariffs Climb, Trade Fraud and Accounting Tricks Proliferate.

April 2, 2026: POTUS: President Trump issues a new Section 232 proclamation restructuring tariffs on aluminum, steel, copper, and related derivatives, raising rates to as high as 50%, applying duties to full customs value, and expanding authority to cover additional downstream products. Effective April 6, 2026. See proclamation.

February 11, 2026: Congress: Sens. Cassidy (R-LA) and Whitehouse (D-RI) introduce the Last Sale Valuation Act (S. 3841), a bipartisan bill to eliminate first sale valuation for customs purposes. See bill.

March 17, 2026: CBP sends questionnaires to importers regarding their use of first sale valuation, covering entries from 2023-2025. Experts warn that audits may follow. See article.

March 2, 2026: CAFC: Federal Circuit orders immediate issuance of mandate in IEEPA tariff case, clearing path for refund litigation at the CIT. See article.

February 28, 2026: DOJ: DOJ moves to delay IEEPA tariff refund process, requesting 90-day stay of mandate and 120-day pause on refund litigation at the CIT. See article.

February 27, 2026: POTUS: President Trump questions whether the Supreme Court could rehear its IEEPA tariff decision, while exploring alternative statutory authorities for tariffs. See article.

February 26, 2026: CIT: Importers in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump file motion for permanent injunction and refund procedures at the Court of International Trade following the Supreme Court's IEEPA ruling. See article.

February 26, 2026: CAFC: Federal Circuit orders U.S. government to respond to importers' motion for immediate issuance of mandate in IEEPA tariff cases. See article.

February 24, 2026: CAFC/CBP: VOS plaintiffs move for mandate in Federal Circuit; Customs confirms 10% worldwide tariffs under new authority. See article.

February 23, 2026: CIT: Companies file protective lawsuits at the Court of International Trade to preserve IEEPA tariff refund rights. See article.

February 23, 2026: Congress: Senate Democrats introduce legislation to force rapid IEEPA tariff refunds. See article.

January 21, 2026: CBP: Forced Labor: Customs opens a force labor portal. (The Forced Labor Portal is a centralized location for importers to submit review requests for shipments detained or excluded for forced labor enforcement. Depending on the type of review submitted, submission will be reviewed by CBP personnel in Forced Labor Division, or Port of Entry, or the Center of Excellence and Expertise).

January 20, 2026: CBP: Tariff Factsheet. (CBP has released this high-level visual for conceptual purposes, which is described as being for informational purposes only, without any attempt to include exemptions or details for each type of tariff).

action are not fully covered.

January 14, 2026: CBP: COAC recommends CBP clarify and provide guidance on Section 232 tariffs. (In the wake of last summer’s announced restructuring of COAC, to better align with President Trump’s America First Trade Policy, COAC’s recommendations have focused on CBP creating clear and easy-to-understand Section 232 tariff guidance).

January 2, 2026: CBP: Federal Register notice on Electronic Refunds. CBP notice states that in February all refunds will issue electronically via Automated Clearing House (ACH) (subject to limited exceptions). Trade members seeking refunds will have to set up ACE Portal accounts, and submit ACH banking information for CBP to issue refunds. As U.S. Treasury checks will no longer be mailed).

November 17 2025: DOJ: alleges criminal fraud evading over $86 million in customs duties on jewelry imports. See Complaint.

November 5, 2025: WCO: Valuation EN planned as to the meaning of “price actually paid or payable” with information on forms of payment, direct and indirect payments, adjustments, etc.

November 4, 2025: POTUS: EOs to cut IEEPA fentanyl tariffs by 10% and to suspend China’s 35% reciprocal rate (reverting to the 10% baseline).

November 1, 2025: POTUS: Fact sheet on Trump “Deal on Economic and Trade Relations”.

October 17, 2025, POTUS: Proclamation 10984. Among other provisions, this amends Proclamation 10908 to expand the automobile parts tariff.  See Adjusting Imports of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles, Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Parts, and Buses into the United States, 90 FR 48451 (October 22, 2025). This message includes guidance on the process by which an importer may claim an import adjustment offset on these other automobile parts.  Entry filing guidance was provided in Cargo Systems Messaging Service Message 66665333.

June 13, 2025: DOC: ITA publishes procedures to adminster the POTUS 232 auto parts offsets from April 29.  See Procedures to Administer Import Adjustment Offset Amounts for Certain Imports of Automobile Parts under Proclamation 10908, as Amended, 90 FR 25027 (June 13, 2025). 

June 9, 2025: DOJ: Attorney General Memorandum: Enforcement Priority is Customs Fraud

April 29, 2025: POTUS: Proclamation 10925 provides for an import adjustment offset amount for Section 232 duties on imported automobile parts. See Amendments to Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts into the United States, 90 FR 18899 (May 2, 2025). 

April 2, 2025: POTUS: Executive Order: Reciprocal Tariffs announced: Annex I and Annex II.

October 3, 2025: POTUS: Whitehouse fact sheet on trade deal with China.

June 9, 2025: DOJ: Attorney General Memorandum: Enforcement Priority is Customs Fraud

April 2, 2025: POTUS: Executive Order: Reciprocal Tariffs announced: Annex I and Annex II.

March 26, 2025: POTUS: Proclamation 10908, imposes a 25 percent tariff on certain imports of automobile parts under Section 232, effective May 3, 2025.  See Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts Into the United States, 90 FR 14705 (April 3, 2025).

March 25, 2025: DOJ: Flooring company settles FCA case for $8.1M.

March 19, 2025: CBP: CSMS # 64472173: Canadian Tariffs: CBP schedule of impacted energy products.

March 6, 2025: Executive Order 14232 Amending Duties due to drugs on the Southern Border.

March 5, 2025: DOC: Softwood Lumber: AD Annual Review (2023): Preliminary determination.

January 31, 2025: DOC: Softwood Lumber: CVD Changed Circumstances Review: Preliminary rates.

January 29, 2025: CIT: Softwood Lumber decision sustaineds in part and remands in part the expedited countervailing duty investigation of softwood lumber products from Canada.

January 20, 2025: POTUS: President Trump states his administration may impose 25% tariffs on both Mexican and Canadian goods "because they're allowing vast numbers of people -- Canada's a very bad abuser also -- vast numbers of people to come in, and fentanyl to come in. I think we'll do it February 1st."

January 17, 2025: CBP: NPRM issued to at tighten the de minimis duty exemption for certain low-value shipments. See also, CSMS # 63789491.

January 3, 2025: Press Release: Nippon Steel Corporation and U. S. Steel Condemn U.S. Government’s Unlawful Decision to Block Proposed Acquisition of U. S. Steel.

October 30, 2024: ITC: ITC announces no injury on aluminum extrusions - thus ending the massive investigation across 14 countries.

September 24, 2024: China's Ministry of Commerce: Announcement: Investigation of U.S. fashion retailers (PVH Group) for inclusion on “unreliable entity list” re: Xinjiang sourcing issues.

September 24, 2024: DOC: Softwood Lumber: AD Review (2022): Amended Final Results.

September 18, 2024: CIT sustains a DOC remand decision lower the rare for non-individually examined respondents in the 2016-17 review of multilayered wood flooring from China resulting in a 31.63% AD rate for those companies (lowered from 42.57%).

August 27, 2024: DOJ: Mississippi seafood distributor (and company managers) plead guilty today to conspiring to mislabel seafood (and commit wire fraud) by marketing frozen imported substitutes as premium local species. 

August 26, 2024 : DOJ: Charges a Hungarian man for violating U.S. export controls by conspiring to ship radio communications technology to the Russian government end users without a license.

August 23, 2024: Importer settles lengthy fraud case prior to trial.

August 21, 2024: DOJ: Announces charges against an extradited Latvia citizen for violation of U.S. export controls by shipping "sophisticated avionics equipment" to Russian companies.

August 13, 2024: CAFC again upholds the authority of the President to modify 201 tariffs (re: bifacial panels).

August 12, 2024: DOJ: FCA settlement of Florida-based apparel company for $7.7 Million.

July 18, 2024: CIT: The Court’s decision in Greentech holds that non-compliance with a Commerce certification requirement resulted in a rebuttable presumption (that an importer's solar cells were from China), whereupon, the government “must provide recourse for importers to rebut that presumption" via the protest mechanism.

August 19, 2024: DOC: Softwood Lumber: AD Review 2022: Final Determination.

July 22, 2024: FMC: Final rule: Definition of a carrier’s “Unreasonable Refusal to Deal or Negotiate” for vessel space accommodations.

July 17, 2024: Bloomberg: Trump interview as to tariff plans. Uncertainty remains, however, he discussed the possibility of a 50% tariff on Chinese products, and a 10% global baseline tariff (with the potential for tariff discounts given to certain friendly countries whom ‘we love’ and who don’t ‘treat us badly.’)

July 9, 2024: CBP adds seafood, PVC (used in vinyl flooring), and aluminum to its “priority enforcement” sectors.

July 5, 2024: Former prisoner at the Hunan Chishan Prison in China sues a tool importer in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for importing goods made with forced convict labor.

June 24, 2024: Stats indicate that in May 2024 alone, CBP identified 450 shipments (valued at more than $100 million) for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor.

July 5, 2023: Sheffield Hallam Universit: Forced Labor Lab publishes list of companies that operate in the Uyghur region.

May 20, 2024: Senate Report details UFLPA compliance violations within the automotive industry.

March 21, 2024: EPA: Settlement terms include $416,003 penalty and destruction of non-compliant HFCs.

March 19, 2024: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Puerto Rico: Owner and company file guilty pleas in response to conspiracy allegations that they caused “Made in Malaysia” labels to be placed on boxes containing porcelain tiles manufactured in PRC, then imported a container into the U.S. declaring it as Malaysian.

May 13, 2024: CIT: Litigation ensures over whether Commerce holds the authority to pause ADCVD imposed against Southeast Asian solar panels.

February 21, 2024: FMC: Bed Bath & Beyond complaint alleges Evergreen Shipping Line "systematically" failed to meet obligations, pressured payments of "extracontractual prices and surcharges", and charged unfair detention and demurrage.

February 21, 2024: DOC initiates CVD investigations on paper plates from China and Vietnam (C-570-165, C-552-840). ADD investigations are anticipated shortly for paper plates from China, Thailand and Vietnam (A-570-164, A-549-849, A-552-839).

February 20, 2024: CIT: Exporter’s complaints claims that goods made from “phragmites” (a type of reed) are not “wood”, and not within the scope of the AD Order on “Wood Furniture.”

February 20, 2024: WTO: Dispute panel decides that revised U.S. CVD law pertaining to subsidies on agricultural products (i.e., “pass-through analysis”) still violates US WTO GATT commitments; hence, the U.S. failed to implement a prior dispute panel ruling on ripe olives from Spain.

February 20, 2024: CIT: Chinese company sues to be removed from a Customs Withhold Release Order (WRO) due to the government’s allegations that “forced labor” is used to manufacture its silica-based products.

February 16, 2024: CIT: Decision in Trijicon v US discusses the distinctions between “lamps” and “apparatus” when classifying tritium lamps.

October 25, 2023: DOC initiates ADCVD investigations on China and other countries (see Oct 4): Fact sheet.

October 25, 2023: DOC scope decision determines that a heat sink manifold will be subject to the ADCVD orders on aluminum extrusions from China, despite the Order’s scope exemption for “heat sinks.”

October 20, 2023: China announces export controls on certain graphite products (effective December 1). Previously in the year, China imposed export restrictions on gallium and germanium (used in semiconductor manufacturing).

October 19, 2023: DOJ announced guilty plea for Florida couple that allegedly smuggled Chinese plywood via the use of shell companies, evading tariffs and Lacey Act requirements in the process.

October 4, 2023: A petition for new antidumping duty investigations was filed to the Department of Commerce regarding aluminum extrusions exported from China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

Concurrently, new countervailing duty investigations were also requested as to aluminum extrusions exported from China, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey.

July 5, 2023: Sheffield Hallam Universit: Forced Labor Lab publishes list of companies that operate in the Uyghur region.

March 20, 2023: FMC: Final Rule re damages.

March, 17, 2023: CIT: Slip Op. 23-35: Trial Court decision In Re Section 301 Cases favors the government; plaintiffs vow an appeal.

February 23, 2023: DOC: Stainless Steel Butt-Weld Pipe Fittings from the Philippines: Final Results.

February 23, 2023: Congress: Countering Economic Coercion Companion Bill introduced (allowing to tariff retaliation on countries such as China).

February 23, 2023: Customs updates UFLPA guidance, including issuing a Best Practices document, and modified FAQs.

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