On November 5, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued its interim final rule that would implement Section 2 of Executive Order 14411 by establishing heightened requirements for foreign importers of record (“IOR”) when making entry, new criteria to qualify as a U.S. IOR, and client verification responsibilities for licensed customs brokers (see Update of June 22, 2026). The rule becomes effective on January 5, 2027.
U.S. IORs
To qualify as a U.S. IOR, an entity must satisfy each part of a three-part test. It must be both located in, and organized under the laws of, the United States, and: (i) maintain at least 51% of beneficial owner(s) who are United States citizens or lawful permanent residents and have control of the entity; or (ii) direct ownership of a significant amount of unencumbered real property in the United States.
With respect to the location of the IOR, CBP will undertake a verification process. Accordingly, CBP may require U.S. IORs to demonstrate factors including but not limited to the entity’s principal place of business, physical presence in the United States, ownership of unencumbered property, whether the entity is sufficiently capitalized, and whether it is an instrumentality of a foreign manufacturer without substantial presence in the United States.
Foreign IORs
A foreign IOR is an IOR that does not meet the criteria of a U.S. IOR. A foreign IOR is prevented from being the IOR unless it becomes validated under the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (“CTPAT”) program. Currently, the only foreign country whose IORs can become CTPAT-validated is Canada. Except for Canada, the rules ban all foreign IORs from entering merchandise for consumption.
Therefore, most foreign IORs must designate a customs broker who is validated through the CTPAT program to make entry or act as the IOR for the entry on behalf of the principal.
CBP is accepting public comments on this interim final rule until January 5, 2027.