Enforcement Archives - Page 7 of 27 - Customs & International Trade Law Firm

Trade Policy Is Changing Rapidly—Prepare Your Business for What’s Next
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Trade Policy Is Changing Rapidly—Prepare Your Business for What’s Next
ACE, Best Practices, Enforcement, Import, Pre-compliance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Trade Policy Is Changing Rapidly—Prepare Your Business for What’s Next

Trade policies are shifting faster than ever, with new tariffs, complicated regulations, and heavy enforcement measures impacting businesses across industries. If you are an importer, staying ahead of these changes is critical to maintaining smooth operations and avoiding financial setbacks.

With trade policy in flux, now is the time to ensure you are on solid footing by auditing your compliance strategies, reassessing tariff exposure, and ensuring your business is prepared for what’s ahead.

Audit Your Business Before CBP Does

Conducting an audit of your business to check for import compliance is an essential step to avoid costly penalties, thwart supply chain disruptions, and to minimize legal risk. An audit helps identify potential compliance gaps, ensuring that your existing business practices are in compliance with all applicable regulations. It also allows businesses to proactively address issues before they escalate.

Import Report Card

Diaz Trade Law can provide a customized ACE report card to give you an overview of your import compliance. The report contains a summary of your import transactions and identifies potential issues in your business’ processes as well as substantive recommendations to ensure compliance. The report provides information like:

Your last 5 years of import history
List of HTS’s you use
Total amounts paid in AD/CVD
Manufacturer ID’s reported to Customs
Inconsistencies in reporting
Total value of imports and duties paid by year
Review of countries of origin of your imported merchandise
Use of Free Trade Agreements
Your surety, bond coverage, and bond type
And more!

Lastly, the Report Card service […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2025-02-27T15:07:04-05:00February 27, 2025|ACE, Best Practices, Enforcement, Import, Pre-compliance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

The False Claims Act: Get Paid to Expose Fraud & Unfair Competition, Protect Yourself from an Investigation
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The False Claims Act: Get Paid to Expose Fraud & Unfair Competition, Protect Yourself from an Investigation
Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

The False Claims Act: Get Paid to Expose Fraud & Unfair Competition, Protect Yourself from an Investigation

The False Claims Act (FCA) is a powerful federal anti-fraud law that incentivizes average people to expose fraud. The law attempts to reward whistleblowers and disincentivize committing fraud and can be used to expose customs fraud.

What is the False Claims Act?

The FCA, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 – 3733, is a federal statute enacted in 1863 in response to defense contractor fraud during the Civil War.

The FCA provides that any person who knowingly submits, or causes to submit, false claims to the government is liable for three times the government’s damages plus a penalty. Conspiring to commit these acts also is a violation of the FCA.

The FCA allows the U.S. government to investigate perpetrators of fraud directly, but it also provides an avenue for private citizens to become whistleblowers and expose fraud.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) obtained more than $2.68 billion in settlements and judgments involving fraud and false claims in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023.

The FCA and International Trade

The FCA is commonly used to prosecute financial crime such as misuse of federal grants and healthcare related claims. However, in recent years the FCA has been increasingly used to allege customs duty fraud and other trade violations. In fact, in a 2020 report, the Department of Justice (DOJ) highlighted the use of the FCA to “safeguard American businesses and workers by promoting compliance with customs laws [and] trade agreements.”

The FCA can apply any time an individual or entity commits customs fraud – for example importers may […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2025-07-10T05:11:49-04:00April 18, 2024|Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

Green Trade Innovation and Incentives Forum RECAP
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Green Trade Innovation and Incentives Forum RECAP
Enforcement, Events, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Green Trade Innovation and Incentives Forum RECAP

On July 11, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held the Green Trade Innovation and Incentives Forum, the agency’s first conference that covered CBP’s Green Trade Strategy and related sustainable trade issues. The CBP Green Trade Strategy was formulated by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels in June of 2022 and serves as the agency’s action plan for addressing climate change’s impact on global trade. The Green Trade Strategy seeks to create business incentives that promote green investment and innovation but also includes ramped-up environmental enforcement efforts. The conference participants included multiple senior officials from CBP, and its partner agencies, as well as top executives from leading industry organizations.

Green Trade Incentives:

AnnMarie Highsmith, Executive Assistant Commissioner for CBP’s Office of Trade explained that the Green Strategy rests on four pillars:

Incentivizing Green Trade
Strengthening environmental enforcement posture
Accelerating green innovation
Improving climate resilience and resource efficiency

The first and third pillars refer to CBP’s efforts to work with its partner government agencies and industry leaders to remove barriers to sustainable trade and to promote green innovation. Multiple industry leaders at the conference proposed ways that CBP could create incentive structures that reduce the carbon footprint of global supply chains and promote green innovation.

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By Jennifer Diaz|2023-07-12T17:19:09-04:00July 12, 2023|Enforcement, Events, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

U.S. Customs – Your Personal Policeman at the Border

Introduction

Many companies mistakenly believe that registering a trademark or copyright with the U.S. Government provides sufficient protection and remedies. However, there is an additional step that can significantly enhance protection—recording trademarks or copyrights with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (U.S. Customs).

This blog explores the distinct goals of these processes and the advantages of recording intellectual property with the U.S. Customs.

I. Registering with USPTO and Recording with U.S. Customs: Different Goals

Registering with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or U.S. Copyright Office gives public notice of ownership.
Recording with U.S. Customs aims to prevent unauthorized importation of merchandise bearing the registered intellectual property.
U.S. Customs serves as a critical partner in halting counterfeit and infringing products from entering or leaving the United States.

II. Benefits of Recording Trademarks or Copyrights with U.S. Customs

Seizure and Monitoring:

U.S. Customs monitors and seizes infringing merchandise at ports of entry, alleviating the burden on trademark or copyright holders.
This proactive approach eliminates the need to individually locate and prosecute every unauthorized importer, distributor, or retailer, safeguarding intellectual […]