The Daily Fuckup

Trump signed a customs-enforcement executive order on June 3 that the White House says is meant to strengthen collection of duties, reduce evasion and force importers to meet tougher compliance standards. The order directs Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection to increase bonding requirements, impose a “good standing” requirement on importers of record, tighten vetting, and set a 50% minimum penalty floor for certain customs violations. It also tells the agencies to expand disclosure and certification requirements, increase seizure and disposal tools for noncompliant imports, and draft legislation to bolster customs enforcement. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthens-customs-enforcement/))

A separate proclamation dated June 1, 2026, revised the tariff regimes for aluminum, steel and copper. It says the metal tariffs were imposed under Section 232 because those imports were found to threaten national security, and it adds or adjusts product coverage, changes the threshold for products to qualify as made entirely from American metal from 95% to 85%, and says the changes take effect June 8 for covered goods entering the country. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/further-adjusting-the-tariff-regimes-for-imports-of-aluminum-steel-and-copper-into-the-united-states/))

Taken together, the two actions show a White House trying to make tariff enforcement more aggressive while also continuing to redraw the tariff map itself. That does not prove the system is unworkable, but it does mean importers are being asked to track a moving target: one order sharpens the rules and penalties, while another revises which goods fall inside the metal tariff regimes and how those goods are classified. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthens-customs-enforcement/))

The customs order’s practical effect is likely to be felt most by importers of record, foreign and domestic alike. The White House says foreign importers face heightened formal-entry requirements, U.S. importers alone may file informal entry, and all importers of record will be subject to expanded vetting and disclosure rules. The administration also says the reforms will go through the normal rulemaking process, so they will not take effect immediately. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthens-customs-enforcement/))

Politically, the message is straightforward: Trump wants to look harder on duty evasion and easier to sell as a president who is still using tariffs as leverage. The harder policy question is whether the government can keep layering enforcement on top of a tariff system that it continues to modify. The White House argues the changes protect national security and lawful trade. Businesses will read them as another round of compliance work, more paperwork and less certainty about what lands where, and when. That tension is now part of the policy itself. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-strengthens-customs-enforcement/))