US Customs and Border Protection experienced a sharp rise in reports about potential tariff evasion after President Donald Trump abruptly imposed new duties on over 100 countries earlier this year, according to data the agency shared with WIRED. From March through May, CBP’s official e-Allegations tipline received 542 complaints about alleged duty dodging, an almost 160 percent increase from the same three months in 2024.
Importers have long tried to evade tariffs and lower their costs by mislabeling the origin, value, and nature of the products they bring into the country. But the new data suggests that Trump’s policies may have pushed more firms to adopt these kinds of legally risky tactics. Over the same recent period, CBP fielded 242 tips about other types of potential violations, such as the import of counterfeit or unsafe items, an increase of just 42 percent. Submissions can be made anonymously, and trade experts say they often come from a company’s former employees or competitors.
Trade attorney Jennifer Diaz says her law firm files “tons of e-Allegations” on behalf of clients, and she has found that CBP often does take them seriously. It takes up to half a year for the agency to vet a claim, but the wait can be worth it. When CBP catches wrongdoing, it can “help level the playing field,” says Diaz, including by wiping out artificially low prices from a market.
Whether CBP is equipped to handle the surge in tips is unclear. Congress has yet to finalize legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would increase border staffing and resources for countering smuggling. As of April, CBP was on track to conduct roughly the same number of audits and issue about as many penalties for alleged trade violations as it had in recent years, according to public data.
Last year, a US Department of Treasury inspector general audit report concluded that CBP had not adequately tracked the outcomes of e-Allegations tips and called for new training and oversight measures to be put in place. From October 2018 through September 2020, CBP confirmed 68 out of over 900 duty evasion tips it received, the report found. But out of an estimated $65 million in unpaid duties, CBP did not know how much it ended up collecting. The agency responded that it was already rolling out improvements.
Data on tips and penalties are important because, unless Trump’s tariffs are sufficiently enforced, they may fall short of the president’s stated goals of increasing revenue and US manufacturing. Some companies also could grow frustrated with his administration if illegal conduct by their competitors goes unpunished. Businesses reluctant to engage in evasion could lose market share to those more willing to gamble as tariffs go up. Violators can face a variety of charges and be on the hook for multiples of the amount they evaded.
CBP spokesperson Trish Driscoll declined to comment on the number of duty evasion investigations happening at US ports and whether they have increased, citing law enforcement sensitivities. In general, she says that the agency uses a combination of “advanced data analytics, risk-based targeting, inspections, audits, investigations, and coordination with government agencies to identify patterns of evasion.”
