Canadian Exporters Acting as U.S. Non-Resident Importers: What Executive Order 14411 Means for You – CBP Form 5106

If your business ships to the U.S. as importer of record, the rules changed on September 18 — and the changes are only beginning.

For decades, acting as a non-resident importer of record (NRI) has been a practical way for Canadian exporters to sell into the U.S. market. You file your CBP Form 5106 once, obtain your importer number, post a bond, and your broker handles the rest.

That model is now under pressure. A new executive order has turned U.S. importer eligibility into an active enforcement priority, and non-resident importers sit squarely in its path.

What changed

On June 3, 2026, President Trump signed Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement. Section 2(e) directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to confirm that active importers of record are compliant with all applicable regulations and disclosures.

CBP’s first concrete step followed on August 19, with a Federal Register notice announcing that beginning September 18, 2026, it will immediately void importer of record numbers when the information on CBP Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete.

The consequences are severe. A voided IOR number is invalid for every purpose, including making entry, which means cargo stops at the port with no advance warning. CBP also reserves the right to pursue additional enforcement actions.

This isn’t a symbolic exercise. Earlier this year, CBP deactivated roughly 4.8 million importer of record accounts that had not filed an entry within the preceding year. The agency has shown it is willing to act at scale.

Why non-resident importers are most exposed

The physical address problem. The address on your Form 5106 must be the actual physical location of the business. CBP expressly excludes a registered agent, a customs broker, a freight forwarder, a P.O. box, a business service center, and the address of any other person or entity. Non-resident importers that listed a U.S. convenience address years ago may now be out of compliance without realizing it.

The “set it and forget it” habit. Historically, many importers completed Form 5106 when first establishing their importer account and did not revisit it unless a specific business change occurred. Ownership changes, relocations, and restructurings since then may never have reached CBP’s records.

Your broker is now vetting you, too. CBP reminds customs brokers that they must exercise due diligence and should not transmit information they know or should know is false, misleading, or unverified. A broker submitting Form 5106 information on an importer’s behalf must possess a valid Power of Attorney executed directly with the importer. Expect more questions, more documentation requests, and less tolerance for gaps.

The broader shift: new rules for foreign IORs

The 5106 enforcement is the first phase. The executive order goes much further for foreign importers.

Under the order, a U.S. IOR is an entity organized under U.S. law with its principal place of business, physical presence and sufficient tangible assets in the United States, and with controlling beneficial owners who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. A foreign IOR fails one or more of those tests.

For foreign IORs, the order brings:

• Tighter eligibility. All IORs will face minimum tangible U.S. asset or bonding requirements and higher minimum bond coverage, along with broader disclosures, including anticipated import volumes, ownership and beneficial ownership, business affiliations and domestic assets.
• No informal entries. Foreign IORs will be barred from filing informal entries commonly used for low-value imports.
• Continuous bond restrictions. Foreign IORs may not use a continuous bond unless CBP is satisfied that revenue is protected and compliance assured.
• A C-TPAT requirement. The order requires foreign IORs to be validated in CTPAT. If you aren’t, you must use a licensed CTPAT-validated customs broker to file your entries.
• Tougher penalties. Consequences include financial penalties, increased audit frequency, and suspension or removal from CTPAT, with a minimum penalty floor of 50 percent and no mitigation for repeat offenders.

The timeline is tight. CBP will roll out the changes over 45, 90 and 180 days, and broader revisions to importer eligibility regulations, policies, and guidance are under development.

The Canadian advantage: C-TPAT and PIP

Here’s the part many Canadian exporters haven’t realized: you have an option most foreign importers don’t.

The executive order is often described as giving foreign importers a choice between their own validation and a validated broker. But for most, it isn’t a choice. CTPAT has several foreign eligible categories, but only one of them is an importer of record category, and that category exists for non-resident Canadian importers.

That means Canadian NRIs can hold trusted status in their own name, rather than depending entirely on a broker’s certification to keep their goods moving.

The benefits of C-TPAT partnership already include:

• A reduced examination rate
• Access to FAST lanes for expedited border crossing
• Front-of-the-line treatment, with C-TPAT shipments moved ahead of non-C-TPAT shipments when examined
• Priority coordination for business resumption in the event of significant disruption to CBP cargo processing

On the Canadian side, Partners in Protection (PIP) is CBSA’s counterpart program, and the two are mutually recognized. Holding both positions your business as a trusted trader in both directions across the border.

As CBP continues to raise the bar for foreign importers, trusted trader status is likely to become more valuable, not less. Validation takes time – which is why the time to start is now, not once the 180-day provisions land.

What to do now

1. Pull your Form 5106 and verify every data element. Confirm your legal name, physical address, ownership and contact details reflect today’s reality, not the day you first registered.
2. Confirm your broker has a valid, direct Power of Attorney and is prepared for the heightened vetting requirements.
3. Reassess your IOR structure. Is acting as a non-resident importer still the right model for your business, or is a different arrangement worth considering?
4. Review your bond. Anticipate higher coverage requirements and restrictions on continuous bonds.
5. Begin C-TPAT and PIP readiness. Assess your security profile, documentation, and internal controls against program requirements.

How Dominion can help

Dominion Customs Solutions has guided Canadian businesses through cross-border compliance since 1981. As an independent firm, we bring an objective review of your program, not a sales pitch for brokerage services.

We can help you:

• Review your Form 5106 information for accuracy and completeness
• Assess whether your current importer-of-record structure still holds under the new rules
• Evaluate your readiness for C-TPAT and PIP, and identify gaps before you apply
• Build the documentation and governance that stands up to heightened scrutiny

The U.S. is rewriting the rules for who gets to import, and how. Canadian exporters who act now will be the ones whose cargo keeps moving.

You can find the CBP Form 5106 here.

This article is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Requirements under Executive Order 14411 continue to evolve as CBP issues implementing guidance.

Contact us to see how we can help.