On March 19, 2026, Brandon Lord, the Executive Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, filed a status update with the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) outlining CBP’s progress in developing a new Automated Commercial Environment (“ACE”) functionality intended to support refunds of tariffs that were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”).
On March 18, 2026, the Trump Administration announced a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act, which requires that cargo transported between U.S. ports be carried on vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, and U.S.-crewed. Pursuant to Cargo Systems Messaging Service (“CSMS”) Message No. 68096516, the waiver took effect March 18, 2026, and is currently scheduled
On March 12, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) filed a declaration with the Court of International Trade providing an update on the portal to be used for CBP to issue International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) tariff refunds. According to the declaration, there will be a claim portal for users to interface with
On March 6, 2026, Brandon Lord, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (“CBP”) Executive Director for Trade Programs, filed a declaration with the U.S. Court of International Trade (“CIT”) in the ongoing Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States case and following up on an order issued by Judge Richard Eaton of the CIT issued earlier this
On February 23, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) published a CSMS containing additional guidance on the 10% duties imposed by the President pursuant to Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (“Section 122”) against all imports from all countries (see February 20, 2026 Executive Order “Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge”).
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the President cannot impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) confirmed it will stop collecting all duties imposed pursued to IEEPA at 12:00 a.m. ET on February 24, 2026.
In a CSMS message, CBP said all Harmonized Tariff
Tariff Evasion Enforcement Continues To Be A Top Priority for DOJ and CBP
Recent developments highlight a coordinated, aggressive approach by the U.S. Government to crack down on schemes that undermine U.S. trade laws.
An Indonesian jewelry company, UBS Gold, its co-owner, and two employees were charged with conspiring to evade over $86 million in U.S. customs duties on jewelry imports. Two individuals were arrested and face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, while UBS Gold faces fines up to $500,000 or twice the gain.
U.S. Launches Section 301 Investigation into China’s Phase One Trade Agreement Compliance
On October 24, 2025, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the launch of a Section 301 investigation into China’s implementation of its commitments under the phase one trade agreement, which was singed on January 15, 2020, in response to the U.S. imposing up to 25% in Section 301 duties.
CBP announced on October 6, 2025, that it will not issue refunds or any payments related to drawback claims, post-summary corrections and protests during the government shutdown which began on October 1, 2025.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a new Cargo Security Message Service (CSMS) Message No. 66200760 to clarify the resubmission timeframe for rejected entry summaries subject to trade remedy duties, including antidumping (AD), countervailing duties (CVD), and other trade remedy tariffs. This guidance was first outlined in CSMS Message No. 64235342, issued