Newly published enforcement data from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) point to a marked ramp-up in activity under the Trump administration.
During fiscal year 2025, CBP carried out 465 audits, compared with 417 in the preceding fiscal cycle, representing an 11.5 percent increase. The financial yield from those reviews expanded even more sharply, with audit collections reaching US$235.5 million versus US$117.7 million in FY 2024.
Penalty activity tracked a similar upward direction. Authorities issued 2,432 trade penalties over the period, up from 2,204 a year earlier, equating to a 10.3 percent rise. Far more pronounced was the escalation in liquidated damages cases, which surged from 22,399 to 53,052, an increase of 136.8 percent. Collections associated with penalties and liquidated damages followed suit, climbing from US$26.3 million to US$46.0 million, a gain of 74.9 percent.
Seizure volumes also expanded. Total trade seizures reached 57,360 in FY 2025, compared with 48,444 the previous year, an 18.4 percent uplift. Within that total, intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement remained a significant driver, with seizures rising from 20,516 to 25,079, up 22.2 percent. The estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of seized IPR goods increased by around 35 percent, from US$5.5 billion to US$7.4 billion.
Import safety enforcement recorded a comparable increase in activity. CBP reported 9,166 such seizures in FY 2025 with a combined value of US$137.4 million, up from 6,888 seizures worth US$60.6 million a year earlier.
Forced labour enforcement presented a more nuanced picture. While the number of shipments detained rose substantially to 7,325, up from 4,850 in FY 2024, the total declared value of those shipments dropped significantly, falling from US$1.75 billion to US$164.5 million.
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Author: Edward Hardy
