As the White House stresses enforcing trade penalties for perceived tariff miscalculations or incorrect entry filing, expect customs brokers to also feel the heat, members of the trade community told International Trade Today.
"Customs identified brokers as their first line of defense at the 2025 Trade and Cargo Security Summit. We’ve seen a sharp uptick in broker penalties, informed compliance, debarment actions, and license revocation proceedings -- either as standalone enforcement or stacked against a single broker," said Denise Calle, customs trade attorney at Olsson Frank.
Lenny Feldman, managing partner at Sandler and Travis, said he doesn't see broker enforcement happening yet, "but I think the potential is there for it to happen for brokers as well as importers, because the stakes have never been higher." Feldman also serves as general counsel and customs counsel for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.
Broker enforcement entails penalties of up to $30,000, or liquidated damage claims could also occur under 19 U.S.C 1641, the statute governing customs brokers. Ahead of those penalties may come informed compliance letters indicating that brokers' activities may constitute a lack of responsible supervision and control.
"Keeping up with the constant changes has been a challenge, and it is becoming a liability to brokers in some cases, since importers rely on us for advice and guidance. One entry summary line can have more than five tariff classifications (compared to one or two in 2024), which makes the entry process more time-consuming and prone to errors," said Jorge Torres, president of Interlink Trade Services and a licensed customs broker. Between all the different tariff provisions, executive orders and CSMS messages, brokers "have a lot to digest and analyze," he said.
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