03 May 2025

According to supply chain experts, the new U.S. trade policy has intensified inspections and revealed multiple instances of goods being undervalued upon entry into the country

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intensified its inspection of imported goods, revealing multiple cases of unpaid or underpaid import duties.

Importers bringing goods into the United States but misdeclaring them—such as undervaluing or misclassifying items—have caused the country to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid duties and fees. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is set to tighten inspections to address this issue in the near future.

According to CBP’s monthly trade statistics report for March 2025, the agency completed 71 audits, identifying $310 million in unpaid duties and fees from goods that were undervalued or misdeclared upon importation. These amounts represent a 10,590% increase compared to February 2025. The number of audits conducted in March 2025 also rose by 153.6% compared to February 2025.

Supply chain experts indicate that the new U.S. trade policy has led to increased inspections, uncovering numerous instances of "undervalued goods" during importation.

Traditionally, the U.S. has audited a small percentage of shipments from China, but the new mandate is to enhance enforcement—especially amid escalating trade conflicts—and has recently uncovered a significant amount of undervalued goods.

However, CBP reported that only about $49 million of the $310 million in identified unpaid duties and fees has been collected. The report also details total revenue from tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to combat fentanyl and illegal immigration, as declared by President Donald Trump in January 2025. IEEPA tariffs include an additional 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico, except for energy resources and potash from Canada, which are subject to a lower additional tariff of 10%.

For Canada and Mexico, the current IEEPA orders on fentanyl/immigration remain in effect, except for goods imported under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

According to preliminary data from March 2025, the U.S. has collected $7.89 billion in IEEPA tariffs on imports from China; $2.87 billion on imports from Mexico; $1.04 billion on imports from Canada; and $1.23 billion from reciprocal tariffs on approximately 90 other countries.

CBP has implemented 13 presidential actions related to tariffs, collecting over $200 million in additional daily tariff revenue. CBP's report includes several noteworthy statistics:

• Processed 3 million import entry summaries valued at over $352 billion in March 2025, a 16% increase compared to February 2025. CBP identified nearly $15 billion in tariffs collected by the U.S. government.
• Stopped 434 shipments valued at over $2.3 million for further examination based on suspected use of forced labor (including textile items).
• Seized 1,827 shipments containing counterfeit goods valued at over $913 million.

Source: Information Center – Extracted from the Monthly Report on the U.S. Logistics Market