President Trump just signed a new executive order aimed at a border fight most Americans never see.
The order is called Strengthening Customs Enforcement, and it goes straight at the loopholes around imported goods, foreign importers, low-value shipments, and the paperwork games that let bad actors dodge U.S. law.
This is the trade side of border security: contraband, counterfeit products, forced-labor goods, unfair imports, and the duty schemes that punish honest American businesses.
From the border to trade, President Trump is protecting AMERICAN industry.
Today, he signed an Executive Order using advanced technology to strengthen customs enforcement – stopping contraband, illegal goods, & unfair imports.
America First, always. pic.twitter.com/Z9m6KWskFq
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 4, 2026
The executive order says customs enforcement is tied directly to national security, foreign policy, and the economy.
It also says the current system has become too easy to game.
The White House explained the enforcement problem this way:
Customs enforcement is essential to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. Effective customs enforcement prevents the importation of unlawful and dangerous goods; ensures importers of record (IORs) are correctly identified and accountable for duties owed; and guarantees compliance with numerous Federal laws, including laws governing forced labor, rules of origin, origin marking, intellectual property, revenue collection, and product safety.
Customs reform is long overdue. Systemic inefficiencies, loopholes, insufficient enforcement mechanisms, and outdated processes have created opportunities for malign actors to evade Federal law.
Examples of noncompliance include undervaluing imports, withholding critical information about IORs and the goods being imported, and avoiding payment of duties through various arrangements and schemes. These actions threaten national security, undermine foreign relations, disadvantage domestic businesses, and harm Americans.
The United States must strengthen its customs enforcement through comprehensive reform, including through agency action and legislation. Such reform should focus on protecting national security, promoting lawful trade, ensuring the timely collection of duties, modernizing systems and processes, bolstering compliance mechanisms, increasing transparency, and protecting Americans and the domestic economy.
One key piece is the importer of record, the party responsible for goods entering the country.
President Trump’s order directs Homeland Security to revise importer eligibility rules within 180 days.
That includes stronger bond or domestic-asset requirements, more identifying information, ownership disclosures, anticipated import volumes, business affiliation disclosures, and other data U.S. Customs and Border Protection says it needs.
In plain language, the administration wants importers to have a real identity, real accountability, and something to lose when they break the rules.
The order also puts foreign importers of record under heavier scrutiny, especially in the low-value shipment lane where enforcement has been easier to evade.
President Trump signs an Executive Order on strengthening customs enforcement by using new technologies to ensure that contraband and illegal goods aren't being smuggled into the U.S. pic.twitter.com/Yqw9VpRXw6
— VOZ (@Voz_US) June 4, 2026
The agency work now begins, so the order is the starting gun for new rules rather than the final rulebook.
The signal is still unmistakable.
President Trump is telling the customs system to stop letting foreign actors hide behind weak paperwork while American companies and consumers pay the price.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
