SEIA Featured in Yahoo Finance on DOJ’s Escalating Tariff Evasion Enforcement

Erika Trujillo
Aug 12, 2025
2 min read

We are honored that SEIA Compliance Technologies and our founder, Erika Trujillo, were featured in a recent Yahoo Finance article by Alexis Keenan, titled “Trump’s DOJ puts companies on notice: Don’t evade tariffs”, published August 8, 2025.

In the piece, Keenan reports on the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) clear warning to companies: avoid engaging in practices that evade tariffs, or risk facing criminal prosecution. This marks a notable shift from previous administrations, which tended to resolve tariff violations primarily through administrative proceedings led by Customs and Border Protection.

A New Enforcement Climate

The article outlines how the DOJ’s current posture is more aggressive and more visible than in the past, signaling a readiness to take legal action in federal court against both companies and individuals.This shift brings heightened stakes — meaning even unintentional missteps in customs declarations, valuations, or country-of-origin labeling could now lead to criminal liability.

Keenan also points to the particular difficulties faced by small and mid-sized companies, which may lack the in-house expertise or the budget for specialized outside counsel to navigate this increasingly complex regulatory environment.

Within this context, Erika Trujillo, founder of SEIA Compliance Technologies, shared her perspective on the practical realities of compliance and enforcement. She highlighted that the intensified DOJ focus underscores the need for proactive, systematic monitoring of customs compliance — not just periodic checks or reactive fixes.

This insight reflects SEIA’s core mission: helping companies of any size build resilience and efficiency into their compliance processes.

How SEIA Compliance Technologies Supports Businesses

Our data-driven compliance tools enable businesses to:

Continuously monitor import/export transactions for anomalies or red flags
Automate oversight to save time and reduce manual errors
Identify potential risks early to avoid costly enforcement actions
Maintain clear documentation trails to demonstrate compliance if audited or investigated

In a regulatory climate where enforcement can escalate quickly, this kind of proactive compliance infrastructure is essential.

“With enforcement becoming more assertive, having a proactive compliance system in place isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical.” — Erika Trujillo, Founder, SEIA Compliance Technologies