Meeting the Challenges of Customs Compliance in a Post TFTEA and Reinvigorated Trade Enforcement Environment

Abstract

In the international trade environment, basic import issues have always presented challenges for customs compliance because each import issue represents a distinct custom law discipline. For importers into the U.S., compounding the pre-existing challenges are the enhanced enforcement tools enacted in 2016 under various provisions of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA), which is now being fully implemented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This article examines through self-assessment questions, how trade compliance risk assessment can be used by companies to confront the increased customs compliance challenges in a reinvigorated U.S. trade enforcement paradigm.