One of CBP’s stated trade enforcement priorities is stopping the flow of counterfeit goods into the United States — and a seizure out of Savannah, Georgia illustrates exactly how that enforcement works in practice. CBP seized counterfeit soccer club apparel with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of over $1 million, arriving in a single shipment from China. We have covered the legal framework for counterfeit imports in detail in our earlier articles on Importing Counterfeit Trademarks — Part 1, Part 2, and Importing Gray Market Goods. This case is a useful illustration of how the enforcement process actually unfolds from the moment a shipment arrives to the point of seizure — and beyond.
How the Savannah Seizure Unfolded
The shipment arrived from China on March 12, containing 390 cartons of soccer t-shirts, socks, shorts, and other merchandise destined for an address in Chamblee, Georgia. CBP import specialists placed an inspection hold on the shipment and had the container trucked to CBP’s central examination station the following day. During examination, officers discovered shirts bearing patches of professional soccer clubs and detained the shipment for trademark verification.
CBP then asked the importer’s customs broker to submit authorization letters from the trademark holders — Arsenal, Barcelona, Celtic, Chelsea, the Mexican Football Federation, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid — confirming that the merchandise was authorized for import. On March 27, the broker reported that the importer had no such authorization. Representatives from Arsenal, Celtic, and Chelsea subsequently confirmed to CBP that samples of the merchandise bearing their marks were counterfeit. CBP officially seized the entire shipment.
The Authorization Letter Request — What It Means
The most instructive part of this case for importers is the authorization letter request. When CBP suspects that trademarked merchandise may be counterfeit, they routinely ask the importer or broker to produce documentation from the trademark holder confirming that the import is authorized. This is not a mere formality — it is CBP effectively putting the importer on notice that they need to prove the merchandise is legitimate.
In this case, the importer could not produce authorization because they did not have it. That outcome was entirely predictable — no legitimate trademark holder is going to confirm that a shipment of unauthorized counterfeit merchandise from China is approved for import. The request and the failure to respond put the final step — official seizure — on a clear timeline.
The lesson for importers is straightforward: if you are importing merchandise bearing third-party trademarks, you need documented authorization from the trademark holder before the shipment arrives. CBP has recorded all major trademarks in its trade enforcement database, and import specialists are specifically trained to flag shipments bearing those marks. “I didn’t know it was counterfeit” is not a defense that carries significant weight with CBP or in subsequent penalty proceedings.
China as the Primary Source of Counterfeit Goods
This shipment arrived from China, which is consistent with the broader enforcement picture. At the time of this seizure, CBP and ICE reported that China was the source of counterfeit and pirated goods with a total MSRP of $1.1 billion — representing 68% of all intellectual property rights seizures by value in FY2013. That dominance has not diminished in the years since. China remains CBP’s primary focus for counterfeit enforcement, and shipments from Chinese manufacturers are subject to heightened scrutiny at ports of entry nationwide, particularly for apparel, electronics, luxury goods, and branded consumer products.
The Seizure Is Not Necessarily the End of Your Trouble
This is the part that most importers do not anticipate. If CBP seizes counterfeit merchandise and the importer abandons it, ignores the notice of seizure, or simply allows the forfeiture to proceed, that is not the end of the matter. CBP has independent authority to assess monetary penalties against anyone who violates the laws it enforces — including trademark and intellectual property laws. Weeks or months after the merchandise has been seized and forfeited, an importer may receive a separate notice of penalty demanding thousands of dollars in additional fines.
Under 19 U.S.C. § 1526, CBP can impose civil penalties for importing merchandise that bears a counterfeit mark. The penalty can be substantial — up to the domestic value of the merchandise for a first violation, and potentially higher for repeat offenders. These penalties are assessed independently of the forfeiture and can arrive long after the importer believed the matter was closed.
On top of CBP’s enforcement action, the trademark holders themselves retain independent civil remedies. An importer who brings counterfeit merchandise bearing Arsenal’s or Real Madrid’s marks into the United States can face a civil lawsuit from the trademark owner in federal court, with potential damages, injunctions, and attorney’s fees exposure that dwarfs the CBP penalty. Major sports clubs and their licensees actively monitor CBP seizure records and pursue importers who traffic in counterfeit merchandise.
What to Do If CBP Has Seized Your Merchandise
If CBP has seized merchandise alleging trademark violations or counterfeiting, the notice of seizure you receive starts a legal clock. You have options — including filing a petition for remission or mitigation, contesting the seizure, or in appropriate cases, demonstrating that the merchandise was not in fact counterfeit. What you should not do is ignore the notice. An unanswered notice of seizure leads to administrative forfeiture, which forecloses most of your recovery options and does not prevent CBP from issuing a separate penalty notice afterward.
We discuss when and how CBP can assess monetary penalties after counterfeit property is seized and forfeited in Part 2 of this series. If you have had merchandise seized by CBP on counterfeit or trademark grounds, call us at (734) 855-4999, send a text message, or reach us on WhatsApp. You can also contact us online. We handle customs seizure petitions nationwide.