Trade EnforcementNOW
686

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: By The Numbers

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+
Section 301 tariffs only, 2018–2025
Tariff Fraud Since 2018
Estimated revenue lost to customs evasion schemes
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.

Latest updates

Policy

The most consequential trade-enforcement bill in a generation.

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.

U.S. SenateRead →
Enforcement

Willful blindness just became a boardroom problem.

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
Data

EnforcementNOW launches the Trade Fraud Case Tracker

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."

— Rep. John Moolenaar, Chairman, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ranking Member, Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Letter to U.S. Trade Agencies, March 5, 2025