U.S. trade laws only matter when they are enforced
EnforcementNOW is an industry-led movement that casts a light on the systemic breakdown in trade law enforcement and gives industry a unified voice in their call to restore the rule of law
Trade crime is the deliberate, systematic violation of U.S. trade laws to gain unlawful competitive advantage in cross border trade — undermining fair competition, American workers and national security.
$1.2T+
In Imports Evaded Tariffs Since 2018
Estimated volume of imports that circumvented U.S. trade duties
Section 301 tariffs only, 2018–2025
$208B+
Tariff Fraud Since 2018
Estimated revenue lost to customs evasion schemes
Section 301 tariffs only, 2018–2025
2.1M
Manufacturing Jobs Lost
Majority a result of unfair competition from trade fraud
2001–2019, U.S. Census Bureau
<1%
Recoveries Through Enforcement
Trade criminals operate with near impunity
These losses are not incidental—they are engineered. Industrial-scale trade fraud, enabled by weakened enforcement, must be understood for what it is: a strategic economic assault designed to weaken American industry without direct confrontation.
Led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, the bipartisan Trade Crimes Act—also known as the Protecting American Industry and Labor Act (PAIL Act)—has again passed the House unanimously. It now returns to the Senate, where it stalled in the 118th Congress. With fewer than four months remaining, the Senate must finish the job in the 119th.
Tariffs may be debated; enforcing the law should not be. The legislation would equip DOJ to prosecute customs fraud, duty evasion and illegal transshipment—protecting American workers and law-abiding businesses.
The Trump Administration drew renewed attention to the enormous scale of transshipment and tariff circumvention through its new report, The Great Transshipment Scam. The report documents how goods subject to higher U.S. tariffs are routinely rerouted through lower-tariff countries, undermining both tariff enforcement and American manufacturing.
For the first time, CBP reportedly conducted unannounced inspections inside China-linked factories in Vietnam—examining raw materials, production records and value added. The action follows USTR concern over the near one-for-one growth in trade from China to Vietnam and from Vietnam to the United States. CBP is no longer waiting at the border. It is taking transshipment enforcement directly to the factory floor—with a 40% penalty looming for violators.
At its July 14 news conference, DOJ and DHS announced more than $1 billion in recoveries and charged losses, a permanent Global Trade & Commerce Enforcement Section, a network of 35 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and a joint civil-criminal enforcement roadmap. These are meaningful commitments—and important infrastructure for treating trade fraud as a serious economic crime. Now comes the opportunity to convert that infrastructure into sustained investigations, search warrants, complaints and indictments—followed by substantial fines, forfeitures and prison terms that dismantle trade-fraud networks operating at massive scale.
EnforcementNOW was proud to collaborate with American Moment to build a practical study guide on trade crime for exceptional young staffer candidates preparing for public service. The guide focuses on how trade crime works in practice, how malign actors exploit gaps in the customs system, and why strengthening trade law enforcement has become an urgent national priority. Durable reform will require policymakers and staffers who understand the problem not only as law or policy, but as industry experiences it: delayed enforcement, limited consequences, and great harm to compliant companies.
The Securing Accountability in Foreign Entries (SAFE) Act, introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy, fixes a foundational flaw in U.S. customs law — foreign companies acting as importers of record with no real U.S. accountability. Without it, every other enforcement tool — AD/CVD, Section 301, forced-labor bans — has the same hole drilled through it. EnforcementNOW is proud to support the bill alongside CPA, Flexport, ITSA, and NBCBA.
The Most Important Day Yet for Trade-Crime Enforcement
On June 3, the President’s Executive Order moved to close a critical loophole: foreign importers operating beyond the practical reach of U.S. law. It directs CBP and DOJ toward stronger enforcement and requires DHS to recommend legislative reforms—changes that Dr. Peter Navarro estimates could recover $80–$100 billion annually. That same day, the PAIL Act advanced 23–0, while bipartisan lawmakers pressed DOJ on Sunsong and Fuyao. Together, these actions represent a decisive step toward restoring consequences and shutting trade crime down.
DOJ secured a felony plea from Boise Cascade, a publicly traded U.S. company, for buying from an importer tied to Chinese plywood transshipment and AD/CVD evasion. Boise paid $6.38M and pled guilty. The importer’s principals were sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $42M+. The warning is blunt: procurement’s willful blindness can become the boardroom’s criminal exposure.
U.S. Dept. of Justice
Policy
House CJS Advances $20M for DOJ Trade-Fraud Enforcement
House CJS appropriators have advanced FY2027 language directing no less than $20M to DOJ Criminal Division trade-fraud enforcement. This is a major one-year appropriations win, but PAIL remains essential because it codifies the Trade Fraud Task Force, and establishes training mandates and congressional reporting so funding is tied to measurable results.
The evidence has finally arrived — record data on evasion, sustained press coverage, DOJ convictions, and real legislation. Yet Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), long the lead on federal trade-fraud cases, saw much of its workforce reassigned as the government surged to meet immigration priorities, a legitimate national focus. The fix isn't blame — it's restoring investigative capacity just as the country grasps the scale of the problem.
Shipment-level analysis shows ~$300B reaching the U.S. annually via Southeast Asia and Mexico to dodge tariffs — with suspicious transactions flagged as likely illegal transshipment up 76% in 2025.
China reported $112B more in U.S.-bound exports than U.S. records show received — a gap traced to phantom importers and undervaluation schemes that leave law-abiding firms competing on impossible economics.
DOJ this week resolved the civil FCA/qui tam case against Perfectus corporate defendants accused of disguising Chinese aluminum extrusions as “pallets” to evade AD/CVD duties. The scheme ran from 2011 to 2014. This is an enforcement win. But lawful competitors waited seven years for corporate criminal convictions and more than a decade for financial recovery. That is not a criticism of the result; it is a collective challenge we must solve.
A long-standing voice for Gulf shrimpers — hit hard by import dumping, uneven Section 609 enforcement, and antibiotic-contaminated foreign product — adds its weight to the call. Case study in progress.
An investigation finds the average declared value of containers arriving from China fell nearly 40% in 2025 — a suspicious collapse traced to accounting tricks and outright fraud. “We’re seeing just total, rampant fraud,” Flexport’s CEO told the Times.
A curated, public-facing record of active and resolved U.S. trade fraud cases — DOJ prosecutions, FCA settlements, EAPA outcomes, CBP penalties — built so journalists, staffers, and lawful importers can see the pattern of evasion and the pace of accountability.
EnforcementNOW
"We write to express our strong concern about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) ongoing efforts to evade U.S. trade enforcement... we urge your agencies to strengthen enforcement against the PRC's unlawful trade practices, including by criminally prosecuting trade criminals who steal from the United States Treasury and exploit American workers."
