Trump Administration to Impose New, Strict Requirements for Importers

June 30, 2026

By John H. Kester

President Trump on June 3 issued an Executive Order providing for substantial changes to Customs law relevant to importers, including narrowing importer eligibility regulations and expanding import disclosure and certification requirements, with a particular focus and effect on foreign importers of record (“IORs”).

The Order provides for the following requirements, ostensibly directed at all importers, but with certain provision(s) most burdensome for foreign IORs, to be implemented within 180 days. IORs must:

  • Maintain at all times a minimum level of tangible domestic assets, bonding, or both;
    • minimum required bond coverage also is set to increase
  • Be designated and reported to Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and maintain a bond or sufficient tangible domestic assets, bonding, or both, for formal and informal entries;
  • Provide to CBP additional data and identification, including anticipated import volumes, year organized, disclosures related to ownership, business affiliations, and domestic assets, and any other data deemed necessary by CBP; and,
  • Maintain “good standing” with CBP, to be based on the IOR and its affiliates’ history of compliance and payment of customs liabilities, and other considerations;

Foreign IORs specifically:

  • Will be prohibited from filing informal entries, those usually valued at less than $2,500 and usually not requiring a bond; and,
  • Will be allowed to rely on continuous bonds only with specific permission to do so from CBP and when the foreign IOR is validated in Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (“CTPAT”) or uses a CTPAT-validated licensed customs broker.

Additionally, the Secretary of Homeland Security is directed to:

  • Establish enhanced vetting procedures for all individuals and entities seeking to conduct activities directly related to the importation of goods, including foreign IORs, affiliates of IORs, customs brokers, custodians of bonded merchandise, and freight forwarders;
  • Take steps to establish heightened import and disclosure certification requirements, including but not limited to certification of compliance with the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, and disclosing certain foreign tax and global business identifiers, and providing detailed information related to the product’s production and supply chain;
  • Take steps to establish a requirement that a foreign exporter (in practice sometimes the same underlying person as the foreign IOR) must submit to the U.S. any documentation or information that the exporter was required to submit to the foreign customs administration before exporting to the U.S.;
  • Take actions to expedite and enhance the seizure and disposal of non-compliant imports, including “reducing or eliminating regulatory burdens to voluntary abandonment, increasing bond requirements for high-risk shipments, [and] authorizing third-party disposal”;
  • Take steps to establish a minimum liquidated damages floor of not and eliminate mitigation altogether for “repeat offenders.” The Order directs that penalties will not be mitigated to less than 50 percent of the amount assessed, “absent exceptional circumstances that materially impact national security”; and,
  • Remove inactive IORs from the IOR registry, confirm active IORs are compliant, and “create risk-based tiers” for IORs based on compliance history, enforcement actions, audit results, etc.

With the foregoing changes in mind:

  1. All IORs would be prudent to:
    1. Evaluate generally whether they currently meet the forthcoming stringent standards;
    2. Implement necessary changes as soon as practicable, in particular given that some of the E.O.’s changes are due for implementation in less than 90 days.
    3. Where possible, create internal processes to be able to identify production steps in their supply chain;
    4. Ensure they have sanctions compliance programs in place; and,
    5. Recognize that penalties and liquidated damages for non-compliance are set to become greater than previously.
  2. Foreign IORs in particular would be prudent to:
    1. Understand broadly that they are being targeted for scrutiny and that the Trump Administration will be actively seeking reasons to disallow their acting as IORs;
    2. Review whether they are likely to have sufficient U.S. assets or bonding to import;
    3. Review whether they are CTPAT validated, or their broker is;
    4. Make alternative arrangements regarding informal entries, understanding they are disallowed from making same; and,
    5. Where they are a foreign exporter also, understand new forthcoming documentary and informational requirements for such exporters.

GKG Law is ready to assist importers with compliance needs related to this Executive Order, including but not limited to development of internal customs and sanctions compliance programs.

We hope this is helpful and please let us know if you have any questions.

John H. Kester is a customs, sanctions, and international trade attorney with GKG Law. He is reachable at jkester@gkglaw.com.

 

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