As CBP ramps up enforcement, the agency often seems to be heading straight for penalties, as witnessed anecdotally by the trend to send out more notices of action, or CF-29 forms, instead of informing importers of possible errors, according to trade experts speaking on a Nov. 20 webinar hosted by logistics company Expeditors.
KYG Trade's AI trade compliance assistant, Kay, passed the October 2025 customs brokers license exam, the company said in a Nov. 19 press release. The tool scored 93% on the exam, KYG said, while "one of the top general-purpose commercial LLMs" failed, scoring 60%. LLM stands for large language model, AI designed to process human language.
As importers seek to recover the monies they paid in tariffs due to discovering they overpaid or because the Supreme Court may potentially rule that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs aren't valid, there are a number of pain points that they may be facing now or will be facing, according to panelists speaking on a Nov. 18 webinar hosted by KPMG.
An Indonesian jewelry company and its co-owner, along with two other employees, were charged last week with taking part in a scheme to evade over $86 million in customs duties on jewelry imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced. Two of the individuals, Indonesian national Icha Anastasia and Italian national Claudio Fogale, were arrested last week and each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud (United States v. PT Untung Bersama Sejahtera a/k/a UBS Gold, D.N.J. # 2:25-12158).
Customs brokers that filed entries after tariff exemptions on agricultural products took retroactive effect on Nov. 13 should file corrections "as soon as possible," according to a Nov. 14 cargo systems message outlining guidance on the exemptions for agricultural products (see 2511140054).
The Fish and Wildlife Service is reportedly asking importers to provide additional information related to imports of fresh squid, particularly species Illex argentina and/or Dosidicus gigas, according to an email sent to members of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.
As U.S. importers navigate the global trade landscape and all its unpredictability, companies should consider creating and adopting a standard operating procedure that addresses all the compliance and transport hiccups that might arise, according to a Nov. 13 webinar, "Beyond Tariffs and Turbulence," which sought to address import compliance issues related to airfreight.
Should the Supreme Court rule that the tariffs administered under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act are not valid, importers of record, who could potentially receive duty refunds, may also end up in legal battles with others who shared in the importer's tariff burden, founding member and principal of Sandler and Travis said during Flexport's Nov. 12 webinar on tariff trends.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
As customs brokers and importers respond to sudden changes in U.S. trade compliance regulations, the trade will need to come up with new models that can allow companies to be nimble when those changes trickle down to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, trade expert Cindy Allen said recently at the Automotive Industry Action Group's North American Customs and Trade Town Hall on Nov. 6 in Detroit.