The president signed an executive order on June 3, 2026, directing the homeland security secretary to strengthen customs enforcement and establish stricter requirements for individuals and companies importing goods into the United States.
The document, published in the Federal Register on June 10, 2026, aims to prevent the importation of unlawful goods, ensure the timely collection of duties, and protect domestic businesses, according to the order.
The order directs the homeland security secretary to prohibit foreign importers of record from filing informal customs entries. For formal entries, foreign importers will not be able to rely on continuous bonds without special permission and must be validated in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or CTPAT, if determined eligible, or use a CTPAT validated and licensed customs broker. The order says these steps are necessary because the United States faces significant barriers when trying to enforce trade laws against entities with assets and operations located overseas.
Within 180 days, the homeland security secretary must revise eligibility regulations to require all importers to maintain a minimum level of tangible domestic assets, bonding, or both. Importers must also submit additional data to Customs and Border Protection, including ownership details and domestic asset disclosures.
The homeland security secretary must also require all importers to maintain “good standing” based on their history of compliance and payment of customs liabilities. Importers that Customs and Border Protection finds to have illegally imported fentanyl, precursor chemicals, or other illicit substances will, consistent with applicable law, lose their good standing and be barred from importing goods into the United States.
The order establishes a 90-day deadline for the homeland security secretary to revise penalty mitigation standards. The new standards must include a minimum penalty floor of at least 50% of the assessed penalty, absent exceptional circumstances that materially impact national security, and eliminate penalty mitigation for repeat offenders. Within the same 90-day period, the secretary must take steps to expedite the seizure and disposal of non-compliant imports and mandate the submission of any documentation that the foreign exporter was required to submit to foreign customs administrators prior to export.
The homeland security secretary and the attorney general are directed to prioritize the enforcement of Federal law relating to importations involving products produced by forced labor, and importations involving misclassification, undervaluation, and illegal transshipment.
The order requires the homeland security secretary to recommend new legislation to strengthen customs enforcement within 45 days and to report on the order’s effectiveness within one year.