US customs braces for ‘huge task’ of enforcing Trump tariffs and finding cheats

Published April 6, 2025 7:00am ET



The federal agency on the frontlines of President Donald Trump’s tariffs war faces the enormous task of policing imports for tax evasion and applying the new tariff rates without holding up international trade.

Since Trump’s “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs were announced, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it had “successfully implemented” tariffs in the past and stood “ready to do so again.”

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