Customs & Import Controls
The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) granted new authority to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to enforce US customs and import controls laws and regulations, including through the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) which gives CBP authority to investigate allegations of antidumping/countervailing duty evasion.
In 2022, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into effect to prohibit the importation into the US of any goods that are mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part by forced labor, particularly from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of the People’s Republic of China or by an entity on the UFLPA Entity List, created by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF). The ULFPA created a rebuttable presumption that goods from the XUAR were produced with forced labor. The UFLPA is in addition to CBP’s issuance of Withhold Release Orders (WROs) that similarly prohibit the importation of goods made from forced labor. In 2024, the FLETF announced that aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and seafood as new priority sectors that it will target, joining a list of sectors previously identified, being: apparel; cotton and cotton products; silica-based products (including polysilicon); and tomatoes and downstream products.
While CBP, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other agencies continue to focus attention on traditional trade enforcement priorities such as forced labor and intellectual property rights (IPR), they are also enforcing newer trade remedies relating to Section 232 duties on steel and aluminum products, Section 301 duties on goods of Chinese-origin, and duty-free claims under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and other Free Trade Agreements.
The number of criminal cases investigated and charged relating to alleged violations of import laws has grown significantly in recent years. There also has been a significant increase in False Claims Act/qui tam litigation arising from relating to violations of import and related laws. If the matter involves suspected criminal activity, the Firm’s attorneys are prepared to represent clients from investigation and grand jury subpoena responses through declination, indictment, non-prosecution and plea agreements, trial, appeal, and post-conviction relief, complemented by trusted co-counsel.
The Firm’s attorneys advise and represent US and foreign companies on a full range of matters involving the importation of goods into the United States, including representing clients before CBP, the US Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the US International Trade Commission (ITC), the US Trade Representative (USTR), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Mexico’s Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT), and the US Department of Justice and US Attorneys’ Offices.
The Firm’s attorneys, Trade Advisor, and Paralegal respond to a wide-range of sensitive inquiries, requests for information, proposed notices of action, liquidated damages notices, negligence, gross negligence, fraud, wood packing materials, and other civil penalty notices, administrative and grand jury subpoenas, notices of detention, seizure, and forfeiture, as well as conduct internal investigations, prepare complex and high-dollar prior disclosures, litigate duty and penalty enforcement actions and other Customs law disputes.
The Firm also prepares ruling requests, including country of origin ruling requests for US Government Procurement compliance with the Buy American Act and the Trade Agreements Act, scope ruling requests, analyzes classification, substantial transformation/country of origin, and valuation issues, conducts due diligence reviews in connection with merger and acquisitions, and advises on duty-saving strategies.
Yormick Law is trusted and we frequently receive referrals from and work with licensed customs brokers, freight forwarders, trade consultants, and accountants to handle sensitive Customs and import control matters for their clients.
Our Experience
If we can assist your company with customs & import controls, please contact us at [email protected]
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