On June 3, 2026 local time, the United States officially signed the executive order “Strengthening Customs Enforcement” and launched a new round of comprehensive reform of the customs supervision system.
This reform is led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It sets a 180-day systematic revision cycle and upgrades regulatory standards from multiple dimensions such as importer qualification review, deposit management, supply chain disclosure, and penalties for violations. It is a major policy adjustment in the field of foreign trade compliance in the United States in recent years. It will comprehensively affect the normal operation of domestic import and export to the United States, cross-border e-commerce, foreign-related industry and trade, and international logistics industries.
As global trade compliance regulations continue to tighten, the implementation of this new policy in the United States has further raised the compliance threshold for trade with the United States. The industry’s original traditional customs clearance model and import cooperation model will undergo systematic adjustments. Foreign trade companies urgently need to sort out their business processes in advance and adapt to new regulatory requirements.
1. The new policy reform timetable is clear and will be implemented in phases
This administrative order clearly delineates the time limit for phased reforms, and various regulatory rules will be implemented in an orderly manner according to the cycle.
, the overall reform cycle totals 180 days:
- On June 3, 2026, the administrative order was officially signed and took effect, and the customs launched comprehensive reform preparations and regularized strict enforcement;
- Within 45 days after signing, the U.S. Customs
The Department of Homeland Security will submit supporting legislative revision proposals to Congress to clarify the legal adjustment direction of this customs reform; - Within 90 days after signing, CBP will complete the revision of customs penalty rules, unify the bottom line standards for violation penalties, and cancel the penalty reduction mechanism for repeated violations;
- Before November 30, 2026 (within a 180-day period), complete the preparation of draft core new regulations such as importer (IOR) qualification review, physical asset requirements, and margin systems.
According to industry public information, 180 days is the time limit for the completion of the revision of the rules. The official implementation of the new rules will also go through processes such as public opinion collection, publicity, and transition period implementation. At this stage, U.S. Customs inspections and compliance verifications have been tightened simultaneously, and compliance control efforts have continued to escalate.
2. Six core regulatory adjustments to comprehensively upgrade import compliance standards
Based on the content of the official US administrative order and industry authoritative interpretations, this reform mainly includes six core adjustments, covering the entire process of import declaration, subject qualifications, fund guarantees, supply chain management, and punishment for violations:
1. The import deposit standard is raised, and the scope of protection is fully expanded
The new policy clearly requires that the minimum amount of importers’ deposits be increased, the scope of deposit coverage be expanded, and all tariffs, customs fines, contract liquidated damages, etc. will be included in the capital guarantee system, and the capital access threshold for import business to the United States will be significantly raised.
At present, the official has not announced the specific increase value. The relevant amount standards reported online are only industry predictions. The final implementation standards are subject to the official announcement of CBP.
2. Standardize importer qualifications and eliminate customs clearance by empty shell entities
The new regulations completely rectify the long-standing chaos in the industry such as empty shell IORs and virtual address customs clearance. They clearly require U.S. importers to hold domestic fixed business premises and tangible physical assets and have real business entity qualifications, solving from the source the industry problems that make it difficult for import entities to be held responsible and regulated.
3. Strengthen information disclosure requirements for the entire supply chain
Importing companies need to fully declare the company’s actual controller, beneficial owner and full-chain supply chain information. Customs will focus on strengthening origin verification, compliance employment review, product safety verification and other work.
For goods with missing declaration information, false content, and incomplete supply chain traceability, the customs will take regulatory measures such as detention and verification in accordance with the law.
4. Establish a compliance access mechanism for importers
The U.S. Customs has officially established a “good compliance” access system, taking corporate compliance records as the core prerequisite for conducting import business.
Import entities that have serious violations, multiple abnormal declarations, or refuse to cooperate with customs inspections will have their import business qualifications suspended or permanently canceled, and compliance capabilities will officially become the core access condition for trade with the United States.
5. Tighten the supervision of overseas importers and raise the threshold for cross-border customs clearance
Introduced a number of restrictive rules for overseas importers, prohibiting overseas IORs from using informal simple customs declaration channels for small-value goods
; To carry out formal customs declaration business, overseas entities need to have CTPAT customs trade anti-terrorism certification qualifications, or cooperate with customs declaration service providers with compliance qualifications. At the same time, overseas entities are restricted in their ability to use continuous deposits, and the compliance threshold for cross-border small-amount trade and B2B foreign trade is significantly raised.
6. Unify the penalty standards for violations and cancel the flexible space for exemptions and exemptions
This reform has completely optimized the customs penalty mechanism and established a unified minimum penalty bottom line. For repeated violations, malicious false declarations and other behaviors, the flexible space for traditional negotiated reductions and exemptions and penalty exemptions will be completely eliminated. The cost of operating violations will significantly increase.
3. The core impact of the implementation of the New Deal on the domestic foreign trade industry
This systematic reform of the U.S. Customs will deeply reshape the ecology of the U.S. trade industry and have a profound impact on domestic manufacturing enterprises, cross-border e-commerce, foreign trade companies, international logistics and customs declaration industries.
The traditional lightweight operation model that relies on shell importers, customs clearance, and double-clearance tax packages will gradually withdraw from the market, and the era of extensive customs clearance in the industry has officially come to an end.
At the same time, small and medium-sized U.S. importers with weak financial strength, no physical business qualifications, and imperfect compliance systems will be cleared at an accelerated pace, and the customer structure of foreign trade enterprises will be optimized and upgraded.
With the comprehensive improvement of compliance standards, enterprise supply chain traceability management, refined declaration, and compliance risk control system construction will become normal needs, and the foreign trade industry as a whole will transform towards standardization, standardization, and compliance.
4. Suggestions for foreign trade companies to respond to compliance operations
In order to adapt to the new regulatory system of the U.S. Customs, avoid import and export compliance risks, and ensure the smooth development of trade business with the United States, foreign trade companies can make early arrangements and rectifications from five dimensions: qualification verification, supply chain management, declaration specifications, resource optimization, and policy follow-up:
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1. Comprehensively check the qualifications of cooperative importers
Sort out the information of all cooperative US importers, verify corporate tax numbers, business qualifications, entity business addresses, asset certificates and customs compliance records, check for risky partners such as shell entities, virtual affiliations, and historical high-frequency violations, and avoid entity compliance risks from the source.
2. Improve the full-link traceability system of the supply chain
Build a full-process traceability file from raw material procurement, production and processing, finished product delivery to export declaration, completely retain the certificate of origin, production ledger, logistics documents, transaction vouchers and other information, check supply chain compliance risks, and meet customs traceability verification requirements.
3. Standardize the management of the entire customs declaration process
Refine the elements of commodity declaration, fill in core information such as HS code, transaction price, origin, product details, etc. in strict accordance with customs standards, establish an internal declaration review mechanism, eliminate misreporting, omissions, underreporting and other violations, and ensure that the declaration data is true, accurate and traceable.
4. Optimize overseas cooperation and market layout
Prioritize cooperation with importers and customs declaration service providers with entity qualifications, CTPAT certification, and good compliance records to reduce customs clearance risks.
At the same time, we will continue to explore diversified overseas markets, optimize the trade structure, and reduce operating risks caused by policy fluctuations in a single market.
5. Establish a regular policy tracking and compliance self-inspection mechanism
Continue to follow up on the new rules and regulations and transitional arrangements officially released by the US CBP and the White House, and understand policy developments in real time.
Establish a quarterly compliance self-examination mechanism for enterprises, dynamically optimize business processes, and ensure that corporate operations and overseas regulatory policies are synchronized.
V. Industry Summary
Normalization and refinement of global trade compliance supervision have become the long-term development trend of the industry. This 180-day reform of the U.S. Customs has further clarified the “compliance first” development orientation of the foreign trade industry.
In the future, companies with improved compliance systems, refined customs management, and global policy adaptation capabilities will continue to occupy the core advantages in the foreign trade market.
As a leading customs system supplier in China, Futaba Technology was founded in 1988 and has been deeply involved in the field of international trade compliance for nearly 40 years. It has mature full-scenario business adaptation capabilities and a global compliance control system that can adapt to the dynamic iteration of customs policies in various countries. It provides standardized and intelligent customs management solutions for import and export companies, helping foreign trade companies build long-term compliance systems, calmly respond to changes in global trade policies, and achieve stable overseas operations.
