Ensuring Safe and Lawful E-Commerce for United States Consumers, Businesses, Government Supply Chains, and Intellectual Property Rights Holders

This Executive Order (EO) directs federal agencies, led by the Department of Homeland Security (specifically U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP) and in coordination with the USPS, to tighten safeguards around e-commerce shipments to the United States. Its core aims are to reduce the import of contraband (including counterfeit goods and narcotics such as fentanyl) through online marketplaces and international mail, ensure proper payment of duties and fees, and raise the bar for who can act as an importer of record. The order creates mechanisms to exclude non-presently responsible individuals from import activity, strengthens reporting and enforcement, and imposes escalating measures on international posts that fail to comply with security and screening standards. It also pushes for fee assessments to cover government processing costs and requires clearer definitions to guide implementation. In practice, the EO signals stricter eligibility for importers of record, enhanced duties on platforms and carriers to screen suspect actors, tighter scrutiny of shipments routed through international posts, and more aggressive enforcement and information sharing. These steps could increase compliance burdens for e-commerce platforms, carriers, customs brokers, and international postal partners, while aiming to curb illegal imports and recover government costs.