WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) Vice President for Global Trade Policy Tiffany Smith today issued a statement on the administration’s “Strengthening Customs Enforcement” Executive Order:
“While we welcome the administration’s focus on strengthening supply chains and improving customs enforcement, those objectives must not come at the expense of facilitating low-risk, lawful trade. We are concerned that several provisions in the Executive Order may have unintended consequences that could harm trade facilitation efforts.
“The changes made by the E.O. will increase both the cost and complexity of importing goods into the United States. In particular, the new rules for foreign importers of record (IORs), including a prohibition on filing informal customs entries, will have an outsized effect on business-to-consumer e-commerce transactions where the seller is located abroad and the consumer is in the United States.
“In addition, the E.O. greatly restricts U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) ability to use discretion in assessing penalties for customs violations by requiring CBP to require payment of at least 50% of any customs penalty, even for minor errors.
“These changes in combination will significantly increase demand for U.S. IORs, while also raising their exposure to enforcement risk, with the likely result being increased costs for IOR services, shortages of willing U.S. IORs, or both.
“To minimize the disruption of legitimate trade, we urge the administration to carefully consider these actions and to have an open and robust stakeholder input process, including notice-and-comment rulemaking.
“Customs enforcement is most successful when the private and public sectors work together, and the NFTC is ready to help the administration fulfill its goals and strengthen both trade facilitation and customs enforcement in a way that supports lawful trade for U.S. businesses of all sizes.”
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About the NFTC
The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) is the premier business association advancing trade, tax, national security, and supply chain policies that support access to the global marketplace. Founded in 1914, NFTC promotes an open, rules-based global economy on behalf of a diverse membership of U.S.-based businesses, who account for over $6 trillion in revenue and employ nearly 6 million people in the United States.
