Trump Strengthens Customs Enforcement, Resolving Long-Standing Concern That A Foreign Seller Could Still Mail Americans Cheap Goods Without First Posting A Bond And Disclosing Its Beneficial Owners

The Filing

WASHINGTON. President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing the Department of Homeland Security to overhaul U.S. customs enforcement, resolving a long-standing concern that a foreign company could still mail an American a low-value package without first posting a bond, maintaining a minimum level of tangible domestic assets, and disclosing its beneficial owners to Customs and Border Protection.

The order, titled "Strengthening Customs Enforcement," instructs CBP to bar foreign importers of record from filing the informal entries used for inexpensive shipments, to raise minimum bond requirements, and to deny importing privileges to any party not in "good standing," a status the agency will define at its own discretion. Administration officials described the measures as a necessary modernization of a system that had, until Wednesday, permitted Americans to receive things they had ordered.

The order arrives roughly one year after the administration ended duty-free treatment for shipments under $800, the threshold that had long allowed low-cost parcels from overseas to reach American doorsteps without a customs bill. Having spent 2025 ensuring that the $40 pair of shoes now arrives taxed, the federal government has turned to ensuring that the seller of the shoes also files anticipated import volumes, ownership disclosures, and a foreign tax identifier before shipping them.

"For too long, a working family could buy an affordable item from abroad and simply have it delivered, no questions asked," said one official familiar with the order, who requested anonymity to describe its goals. "This restores the basic principle that the question should be asked, that there should be several of them, and that a bond should be posted." The order further establishes a minimum penalty floor of no less than 50 percent of any assessed penalty and directs the recurrent vetting of customs brokers, freight forwarders, and the custodians of bonded merchandise.

The White House framed the order as a defense of American revenue, domestic industry, and consumers, the last of whom can expect to pay more for the goods the order protects them from receiving cheaply. In a closing provision, the document specifies that the cost of its own publication shall be borne by the Department of Homeland Security, the single expense the order assigns to the government rather than to the importer.

At press time, a $12 phone case ordered from overseas remained in CBP custody pending confirmation that its seller maintained a physical presence, significant business activity, and sufficient tangible assets within the United States.

Who Benefits

§Donald J. Trump, who banks another "tough on trade cheats" announcement and expands executive control over who is permitted to import into the United States.
§The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, granted broad discretion to define "good standing," set bonding levels, demand beneficial ownership data, and conduct recurrent vetting of importers and brokers.
§Large domestic retailers and established U.S. importers, insulated from low-cost foreign competitors who can no longer use informal entry to ship inexpensive goods directly to American buyers.
§Surety bond companies, customs brokers, and trade-compliance lawyers, handed a new mandatory market in bonds, CTPAT validations, and filings.
§Domestic manufacturers, shielded from cheaper imported alternatives.
§The administration's trade hawks, including the Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, who gain another instrument of import control and a 45-day mandate to draft enabling legislation.
§Future presidents of either party, who inherit an expanded precedent for governing imports by executive discretion.

Sourced to the public record · presented without editorial embellishment