Letter from our CEO: A new era for customs enforcement

Today I am proud to share with you a significant milestone in our company's history. After several months of hard work, we have announced that the Department of Homeland Security and our partners at U.S. Customs and Border Protection have selected Tru to support their mission.

Strong customs enforcement is not new.

Customs enforcement has been on the rise for over 5 years. Spurred by the increasing enforcement challenges posed to global economies by the E-Commerce boom, from 2017 to 2024 alone, customs enforcement in the U.S. has risen 520%.

Prior to any Trump-era policies focused on tariffs, customs agencies have been clear that data, more enforcement mechanisms, and deeper analysis of supply chains is going to be the path forward.

Importing to the United States is a privilege, not a right.

Now, President Trump has made it clear that advancing customs authority and capabilities is not only a "must" from a regulatory perspective, but for national security. While tariffs have become a political discussion in 2025 and 2026, it is undeniable that the policy directly drove a shift in focus for importers globally:

• Tariffs became a significant P&L line item for brands, demanding time and attention
• Consumers became wise to DDP vs DDU terms as checkout experiences were not prepared for the wave of changes
• Sureties and customs bonds became a critical part of every supply chain
• Documentation and post-entry audit are on the rise as "trade services" becomes more important than just simply "making entry"

Under the new Executive Order signed June 3 2026, Strengthening Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection is directed to create a much larger distinction between foreign importers of record (IORs) and domestic IORs. CBP will be proposing new regulations for data collection and creating new processes for companies to put their best foot forward and demonstrate compliance.

Our newly-announced partnership with CBP is sending a ripple effect through import operations.

The status quo is no longer viable. For many importers, the most simple integration and least-possible documentation was the right approach, because you never felt the pain of customs.

However, CBP is being equipped with not only more legal authority to set the rules over imports, but with $3.5Bn to be deployed between now and 2029 specifically for artificial intelligence and other technologies, you can no longer ignore this issue.

Tru supports CBP with the same tools currently in use by best-in-class customs brokers and importers who wish to demonstrate the internal compliance controls.

This is a new era for customs enforcement.

Don't get left behind.

To our customers: thank you for your trust and your diligence. You bought into our vision for a new global trading system before it was proven. Now that it's real, I can promise that this is just the beginning. Our entire team is working hard to bring you even better results than you're already seeing.

To my team: thank you for your hard work. With years of patient, strategic, iterative work comes the validation that what we have built is creating meaningful, lasting change for the biggest and the best.

To those who believe in a greater future: come and join us on our mission to bring innovation back to regulation, where we are deploying Tru's Responsible AI in use cases across the Federal Government and the private sector.