Fighting Trade Cheats Act of 2026
Key claim: The Fighting Trade Cheats Act of 2026 would raise civil penalties for fraudulent and grossly negligent customs violations, impose multi-year import bans on violators and affiliates, create a private right of action, and bar violators from CBP’s Importer of Record program.
Abstract
(S3808 · 119th Congress) Fighting Trade Cheats Act of 2026 This bill increases penalties for, and establishes additional enforcement mechanisms related to, fraudulent and grossly negligent violations of U.S. customs laws. Specifically, the bill increases the maximum civil penalty for a fraudulent violation to three times the domestic value of the merchandise. (Currently, the maximum penalty is the domestic value of the merchandise.) It prohibits a person who commits a fraudulent violation from importing merchandise into the United States for a five-year period. Additionally, the bill increases the maximum civil penalty for a grossly negligent violation to the lesser of (1) 3 times the domestic value of the merchandise; or (2) 10 times the lawful duties, taxes, and fees. (Currently, the maximum penalty is the lesser of the domestic value of the merchandise or four times the lawful duties, taxes, and fees.) It prohibits a person who commits a grossly negligent violation from importing merchandise into the United States for a two-year period. Further, the bill applies these importation bans to an affiliated person (e.g., a family member or employee) of the person who committed the fraudulent or grossly negligent violation. The bill establishes a private right of action for an interested party (e.g., a manufacturer) affected by customs fraud or grossly negligent violations. The bill prohibits any person (or an affiliated person) who commits a fraudulent or grossly negligent violation from participating in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Importer of Record program, and further requires revocation of their importer of record numbers. Latest action (2026-02-09): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Why this matters
This bill would materially raise the downside risk of customs misclassification, undervaluation, and origin fraud for importers by layering import bans, Importer of Record disqualification, and private lawsuits on top of existing CBP civil penalties. Neutral effect analysis: importers face higher compliance costs and greater consequences from broker or affiliate errors, competing domestic producers gain a new enforcement tool via the private right of action, and pass-through to consumer prices depends on how broadly ‘gross negligence’ is applied in practice.