The Department of Justice has officially revived and expanded its Trade Fraud Task Force, joining forces with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to target companies that cheat on tariffs or misdeclare origin.
🔗 Read the DOJ announcement here.
This is not a new task force in name only. It’s a revitalized structure that merges the Civil and Criminal Divisions of the DOJ. That means two things:
1.Parallel prosecution — you can now face both civil penalties and criminal indictments for the same import violation.
2.Unified enforcement — the DOJ, CBP, and HSI are sharing data, audits, and red flags in real time.
Recent actions have already targeted flooring, aluminum extrusions, quartz, and plastic resin industries — and officials made it clear: “Trade fraud is not a victimless crime.”
What used to be handled quietly through fines or administrative settlements is now being treated as federal crime — on par with financial or security fraud.
Until recently, trade violations were usually settled quietly. A few fines, an entry correction, a written apology — and business continued.
That era is over.
Now, the same mistakes — a mislabeled country of origin, an undervalued invoice, or a “creative” supplier declaration — can trigger:
Why? Because the DOJ now views trade fraud as economic warfare — an attack on domestic manufacturing and national security.
And this shift didn’t come from CBP alone. It came from Congress and industry whistleblowers — U.S. manufacturers who are now rewarded for reporting import fraud that hurts their sectors.
Every importer needs to understand:
A “supplier shortcut” is now a whistleblower opportunity for someone else.
Here’s the practical reality:
Most importers aren’t setting out to cheat. But their suppliers often are.
A Chinese or ASEAN factory under pricing pressure may:
When that happens, the importer — not the factory — carries the liability.
Under U.S. law, you’re the Importer of Record.
That means if your supplier lies, you own the crime.
The DOJ’s message is clear: “We don’t need to prove intent. We only need to prove you didn’t check.”
And that’s exactly where most importers fail. They treat compliance as paperwork — not as proof.
The only defense now is proactive documentation and verification.
That’s where Asia Agent steps in — not as a consultant, but as your compliance infrastructure inside Asia.
Our framework covers every layer of protection you now need:
1.Supplier Verification & Factory Due Diligence
Confirm factory licenses, export rights, and sub-supplier relationships.
Review ownership structure to detect shell or blacklisted entities.
2.On-Site Documentation
Chain-of-custody inspection with geo-tagged photos and production records.
Material and transformation verification (BOM → HS code).
3.Origin Affidavits & Transformation Analysis
Legally defensible documentation proving where the product was made and how it was substantially transformed.
4.CBP Audit Readiness File
Complete documentation set: invoices, bank wires, container records, and affidavits ready to submit within 24 hours of a CF-28 or CF-29.
5.Continuous Compliance Monitoring
Quarterly document refresh.
Annual supplier re-verification.
Optional pre-audit drills simulating DOJ/CBP checks.
Our clients don’t “hope” their supply chain is clean.
They know it is — because every record, shipment, and material is backed by verified documentation.
This isn’t the first enforcement wave, and it won’t be the last.
The U.S.–China trade war didn’t end — it evolved.
Now it’s not just CBP at the border. It’s DOJ, Homeland Security, and financial crimes prosecutors working together.
Every importer should take this as the final warning:
Compliance is no longer a cost center — it’s your defense strategy.
If you import without:
you’re operating in legal darkness.
At Asia Agent, we build your defense before you ever need one.
Our team operates inside China, Vietnam, and Indonesia — inspecting, verifying, and documenting every shipment under U.S. law standards.
If you’re worried about origin risk, supplier deception, or tariff exposure, now’s the time to act — not after a subpoena.
It’s a cross-agency team created by the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and CBP to investigate tariff evasion, false origin claims, and under-valuation.
Official DOJ release →
Before, CBP handled civil fines.
Now, DOJ can run civil and criminal cases in parallel — meaning an importer can face both penalties and prosecution.
Industries already targeted include aluminum, flooring, quartz, and plastic resin.
Always the Importer of Record.
If your factory lies, you still sign the entry. The DOJ prosecutes the importer, not the factory.
That’s exactly what DOJ calls false origin fraud.
If you can’t prove substantial transformation in Vietnam, your company — not the supplier — is liable under the False Claims Act.
Yes, especially if raw materials still come from China.
DOJ and CBP now verify the entire chain of transformation — not just the final assembly site.
You’ll need:
Asia Agent collects and stores these records through its on-site verification teams in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Keep a CBP Audit Readiness File with:
This is part of Asia Agent’s CBP Compliance Program.
Yes.
If the wrong code leads to lower duty payments, DOJ can call it fraudulent misclassification — a felony under Title 18.
Domestic competitors can file qui tam suits under the False Claims Act.
If they prove you underpaid tariffs, they receive a share of your penalty.
That’s why DOJ calls this a “whole-of-government, whole-of-industry” enforcement wave.
We combine field verification and legal documentation:
Our goal is simple — your imports stay compliant, documented, and defensible in both civil and criminal reviews.