On October 19, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a memorandum of agreement for both agencies to work together on e-commerce enforcement and laws.

With the rise of e-commerce in the markets, DHS and DOC will work together to address challenges in the digital marketplace.

The partnership will work together to:

• Promote multi-agency coordination;
• Promote public-private dialogue;
• Promote compliance with U.S. trade laws;
• Identify and seek to address international cross-border capacity and operating constraints;
• Measure e-commerce-based supply chain and goods movement;
• Share relevant statistical trade data.

Ultimately, the cooperation of the two departments hopes to remove trade barriers, assist U.S. businesses in growing e-commerce shipments, and to focus on enforcement of U.S. laws.

The memorandum of agreement can be found here:

https://www.trade.gov/td/services/oscpb/supplychain/acscc/Meetings/2017October/October2017/2017-07-14%20DOC-DHS%20MOA%20Ecommerce.pdf

The press release from the International Trade Administration may be found here:

https://www.trade.gov/press/press-releases/2017/us-department-of-commerce-and-us-department-of-homeland-security-sign-agreement-to-improve-flow-of-ecommerce-trade-101917.asp