On May 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) indicated that it will appeal the U.S. Court of International Trade’s (“CIT”) universal injunction ordering U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to reliquidate final entries (entries more than 90 days past liquidation) and refund duties paid under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (“IEEPA”) by
The Supreme Court’s unanimous May 28, 2026, decision in Flowers Foods, Inc. v. Brock significantly broadens the Federal Arbitration Act’s Section 1 transportation-worker exemption by holding that workers performing exclusively intrastate deliveries as part of a larger interstate supply chain qualify as “engaged in interstate commerce” and are therefore exempt from compelled arbitration—even when they
The Federal Maritime Commission’s May 13, 2026, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would significantly revise and modernize its rulemaking procedures by simplifying existing requirements, aligning with current eRulemaking practices, and expanding opportunities for public participation—particularly by making it easier for stakeholders to petition for new or revised regulations.
The proposal signals a shift toward earlier and
Beginning in February 2025, President Trump imposed new tariffs on imported goods through a series of executive orders, relying on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as the claimed authority for imposing tariffs. In time, the new tariffs affected imported goods from nearly all countries. Legal challenges followed.
In V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, the Court of International Trade (CIT) enjoined the enforcement of the tariffs against the plaintiff, and the Federal Circuit affirmed. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in both cases, and on February 20, 2026, issued its opinion holding that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Two days later, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it would no longer collect IEEPA tariffs effective February 24, 2026.
On March 9, 2026, Senator Bill Cassidy and Congressman Jodey Arrington introduced a bicameral bill known at the Securing Accountability in Foreign Entries Act (“SAFE Act”). The SAFE Act would amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to require importers of record to maintain a meaningful U.S. nexus thereby curtailing long-standing U.S. customs practices relied
On February 3, 2026, the United States House of Representatives narrowly passed a comprehensive spending bill. While the primary aim of the bill was to end a partial government shutdown and fund several federal agencies, it also included the restoration and extension of two key trade preference programs: the African Growth and Opportunity Act (“AGOA”)
As of October 1, 2025, the U.S. Government has shut down as a result of the budget impasse in Congress. While essential services such as law enforcement remain operational, many departments have had to furlough staff and suspend non-critical functions.
For international trade-related operations, the impact varies by agency. Critical functions tied to national security—such
In March 2025, in a similar blog post to this one, Nithya Nagarajan and Robert Romashko forecasted that False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement would increase under the current tariff-focused trade policy regime. Sure enough, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced two FCA resolutions involving allegations of failure to pay customs duties and evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties.
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, Pub. L. No. 118-50, div. D. Part of the Act included a provision extending the statute of limitations for civil and criminal violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) from five years to 10 years. The new statute of limitations took effect on the date of the President’s signature.