Last month, the Department of Justice launched a cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force. The Task Force will draw resources from the Department’s Civil and Criminal Divisions and the Department of Homeland Security to “aggressively pursue enforcement actions” against tariff violators, smugglers, and “importers and other parties who seek to defraud the United States.”
The Department’s enforcement efforts under the Task Force will include actions under the Tariff Act of 1930, the federal False Claims Act (FCA), and parallel criminal prosecutions, penalties, and seizures under Title 18 federal criminal statutes.
The Department also invited whistleblowers to report unfair trade practices and fraud, including by making use of the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions to bring lawsuits against tariff violators on the government’s behalf. Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti, said that the Criminal Division, led by the Fraud Section, “is committed to using every available tool to hold bad actors accountable and prevent the theft of money intended to reduce the deficit and fund government programs.”
In a recent litigation alert, attorneys at Miller & Chevalier wrote that the Task Force “will substantially increase scrutiny of trade practices, and companies dealing with imported goods are advised to redouble their supply chain due diligence, even if they are not acting as the importer of record themselves.”
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