DOJ's criminal division has identified trade fraud as a top priority, assigning its market integrity and major frauds unit to handle tariff evasion cases, a DOJ official confirmed to us. The official said that the major frauds unit is shifting resources to trade and looking to cases involving "long-running frauds, senior executives, and large volumes of alleged losses from unlawful tariff evasion schemes."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
In the July 9 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 59, No. 28), CBP published proposals to revoke ruling letters concerning the tariff classification for tuna and rice kits.
Suspension of liquidation and antidumping duty cash deposit requirements take effect July 14 for imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico (A-201-820), after the Commerce Department withdrew from the latest in a series of agreements suspending the duties since 1996.
Five importers challenging the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the government's defense of the tariffs' legality falls short. The importers, represented by the conservative advocacy group Liberty Justice Center, argued that IEEPA categorically doesn't provide for tariffs, IEEPA is precluded from being used to address trade deficits due to the existence of Section 122, and the Court of International Trade was right to issue an injunction against the tariffs (V.O.S. Selections v. Donald J. Trump, Fed. Cir. # 25-1812).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
President Donald Trump issued an executive order late July 7 that said he is postponing the effective date of higher country-specific reciprocal tariff rates from July 9 to Aug. 1 "based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, including information on the status of discussions with trading partners."
President Donald Trump issued an executive order late July 7 that said he is postponing the effective date of higher country-specific reciprocal tariff rates from July 9 to Aug. 1 "based on additional information and recommendations from various senior officials, including information on the status of discussions with trading partners."
CBP created Harmonized System Update 2527 on July 3, containing 24 Automated Broker Interface records and six Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. It includes Partner Government Agency updates and miscellaneous tariff adjustments required by verification of the 2025 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. In support of the PGA Message Set, the AM8 AMS (Agricultural Marketing Service) tariff flag was removed from HTS subheadings 0901.11.0040, 0901.21.0020 and 0901.21.0049.
The International Trade Commission posted Revision 16 to the 2025 Harmonized Tariff Schedule. The semiannual update to the HTS adds new 10-digit tariff numbers for a variety of products, including coffee, refrigerators, wind turbine parts and integrated circuits, among other goods.