In major news announced on Friday, August 29, the Trump Administration’s Pam Bondi-led Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it is creating a new task force alongside the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to crack down on foreign fraudsters who are attempting to defraud America by using perfidy and rerouting in an attempt to avoid tariffs.
As background, the Trump Administration has engaged in a massive effort to reshore American industry by imposing tariffs on goods produced outside the country, using varying tariff rates to level the playing field between American manufacturers and their foreign competitors. As a result, those in targeted countries are attempting to use various loopholes and forms of fraud to avoid their country-specific tariffs and get more favorable rates.
It is that behavior that the DOJ is cracking down on, as it announced in a press release saying, “Today, the Department of Justice launched a cross-agency Trade Fraud Task Force to bring robust enforcement against importers and other parties who seek to defraud the United States.”
Continuing, the press release described what sort of behavior is being targeted and how this fits into the strategy of preserving American manufacturers, saying, “The Task Force will augment the existing coordination mechanisms within the Department of Justice and leverage expertise from both the Civil and Criminal Divisions, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, to aggressively pursue enforcement actions against any parties who seek to evade tariffs and other duties, as well as smugglers who seek to import prohibited goods into the American economy. This Administration is fully committed to holding parties accountable for their attempts to undermine honest American competitors.”
Then, putting that in the context of Trump Administration policies, the press release noted that the anti-fraud effort comes alongside President Trump’s “America First Trade Policy” order, which aims to aid American workers and manufacturers, along with related businesses and industries, by promoting domestic investment and productivity improvements.
And, describing how cracking down on fraudsters is related to that goal, the DOJ’s press release noted, “A critical part of the policy is ensuring compliance with trade laws, including the payment of all applicable tariffs and duties, such as antidumping and countervailing duties and Section 301 tariffs intended to level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers.”
Further, the statement described how the DOJ and DHS need to crack down on such foreign fraudsters because they are putting domestic industry at risk while depriving the national government of much-needed trade revenue, saying, “Trade fraud not only deprives the government of vital revenue used to reinvest in America, but also threatens critical domestic industries, undermines consumer confidence, and weakens national security.”
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Emphasizing that point, it added, “Fraudsters seeking to destabilize and profit off of American markets increasingly are attempting to import below-market, industry-destabilizing goods without paying lawful tariffs and duties or by smuggling prohibited items that violate intellectual property rights of American companies or are otherwise illegal. These fraudsters have harmed American manufacturers and contributed to the loss of American jobs, often with financial backing from America’s adversaries who benefit from the fraud.”
Watch “Mr. Wonderful” defend the Trump tariffs here: