The Department of Justice has sent another clear message that global trade fraud sits at the top of its enforcement agenda. Following the release of an August 2026 memo and rule that created the National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED or Division) and described its priorities, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued a follow-on directive on October 1, 2026, that sharpens and formalizes how trade and customs fraud will be investigated and prosecuted going forward, particularly where corporations are involved.
The NFED’s founding priorities memo set out five pillars of focus, including global trade and commerce, and specifically flagged illicit transshipment schemes, country-of-origin fraud, undervaluation of imported goods to evade duties, sanctions evasion, and foreign forced labor schemes as priority areas for investigation and prosecution. The October memo builds on that foundation by providing rules for how the Division’s attorneys will handle corporate investigations, naming trade fraud as one of the core categories and placing it on equal footing with health care, government procurement, and tax fraud as a top-tier corporate enforcement target.
The directive also sets forth aggravating factors prosecutors must weigh when deciding whether to bring charges, several of which map directly onto fact patterns common in trade fraud matters, including conduct spanning multiple federal districts, multi-year schemes, and dollar thresholds well below the size of a typical large importer’s annual duty exposure. At the same time, the October memo reaffirms that voluntary self-disclosure, cooperation, and remediation remain meaningfully rewarded, and the Division has been directed to expand whistleblower incentives.
This policy shift is not theoretical: the cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force, a joint DOJ-DHS initiative, has already surpassed $1 billion in combined civil and criminal recoveries, penalties, forfeitures, and publicly charged losses in under a year, which includes cases involving country-of-origin fraud on gold jewelry imports and a $549.5 million False Claims Act settlement concerning antidumping and countervailing duty evasion on aluminum extrusions, the Task Force’s largest recovery to date.
Companies with cross-border supply chains should treat customs compliance, especially country-of-origin documentation, import tariff classifications, and forced-labor avoidance,as critical compliance focal points, since early self-disclosure and cooperation with law enforcement present the clearest paths to favorable outcomes should an investigation begin. Companies should also consider what strategies can be employed now to seek favorable mitigation such as investments in risk assessments, enhanced compliance training, and the implementation of proper customs policies and procedures.
For more details on how the National Fraud Enforcement Divisions priorities may affect your international trade compliance program, we encourage you to read the legal update.
Husch Blackwell’s International Trade and Supply Chain team is continually monitoring these developments and will provide updates as they arise.