How will customs regulations change in 2026? The role of customs has grown to become even more strategic for businesses. When looking at the trends in this space for 2025, strong trade compliance and sustained customs modernisation trends have shown how the future of customs has the potential to impact so much more than just clearance and border control being able to stabilise trade amid geopolitical turbulence.

In a whitepaper published at the end of 2025, with the input of trade compliance experts from a range of global companies, including Maersk, the World Economic Forum identifies the issue saying “international trade is undergoing a profound transformation, introducing new layers of complexity and uncertainty for companies” adding also that a solution could be found in the proper management of customs, and stressing that “successful trade compliance could also bring a competitive advantage”.

Why customs trends matter for global trade in 2026

To discover what aspects of customs will change in 2026, and how to use these at your advantage, we’ve asked industry experts to highlight the top trends within this space to watch and prepare for.

What are the major customs trends in 2026?

1. Continued geopolitical uncertainty: “The global trade landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation, driven by geopolitical shifts, evolving regulatory frameworks and rapid technological change” writes the WEF in the above mentioned paper. The current tariff scenario of is projected to continue to be complicated in 2026: continuous changes of tariffs (including responses to such changes in affected countries) have led to business insecurity as well as difficulty for all parties involved in understanding how to proceed. The situation is highly complicated. “Tariffs are increasing costs, which in turn impacts supply chains, pricing and profitability, all going to affect the viability of a product in a particular market” explains William Petty, Global Product Development Manager for Trade & Customs Consulting at Maersk, adding that “these tariffs have also required importers to implement actions they've never had to activate before, where tariffs are not applied in the traditional way with commodity codes giving a specific tariff rate to pay. Some of the tariffs require importers to understand the value of specific materials within the product, (say, aluminium) which complicates the process, increases the risk of accidental non-compliance, and will add costs that need to be carefully managed.” The industry is therefore seeing more fragmentation in trade policies. Because of this unprecedented lack of certainty and clarity, at times brands even withhold moving their products. So, looking forward, what can be a way out of this? Control and visibility of your customs and compliance-related data, and insights into your risks and opportunities, are essential components of a strategy to help address these challenges. Companies need resources, expertise and a right partner to successfully reorganise their business. Doing so well provides an opportunity to also save money, while sleeping better at night.
2. Level of enforcement: The uncertainty with trade has been fuelled by increased and tightened export controls and customs regulations for 2026. What are then the customs compliance strategies for businesses in 2026? In the past, tariff rates were generally quite low, with less importance as to where a business was importing from, as the degree to which country of origin of imported goods would determine their landed cost wasn’t as large as today. Everything changed since a surge of new tariffs started to present extreme differences in tariff rates and impacting brands’ sourcing choices. Because of this, trade regulations enforcement is tightening, causing additional disruption and border agencies are increasingly using AI-powered solutions and technology to find non-compliance. In addition to tariff enforcement, business is also having to adapt to other trade regulations. To name a few, in 2026 the CBAM Regulation is moving into its definitive form within the EU, adding cost. Moreover, the EU Digital Battery Passport will come into play in 2027, so this upcoming year brands will need to prepare for it. And although we expect the EU’s EUDR to be postponed for a further 12 months, this will be the last postponement, and businesses will need to use 2026 to prepare. This stronger level of enforcement has had a direct impact on the need for businesses to focus more on the accuracy of their data and their compliance, including tariff classification, valuation and origin determination of their goods. “Today, as never before, we need predictability, certainty and uniformity in how Customs applies rules and regulations so that businesses could properly plan their activities, their strategies and their pricing. If rules and regulations get changed every day, people get confused and it doesn't help to make trade flow” says Alexey Shcheglov, Classification Lead Expert for Global Trade and Customs Consulting at Maersk. Trade compliance teams will need to look at new ways of how they can use data to ensure their company complies with new regulations, capturing information upstream, reviewing it in advance, and reducing the time that they spend processing goods at the border.

3. Customs as a strategy: The current tariff uncertainty is not something that can be directly changed by companies, however businesses can use existing standards and tools in combination with new solutions to mitigate the impact of the situation. We will see more upstream data-management, use of AI-powered screening and customs data visibility tools, to manage and actioning tariff and trade compliance challenges. In order to minimise disruption, customs compliance will be increasingly used as a strategic advantage and a way to facilitate trade during the current period of high volatility and today’s turbulent trade environment. An agile customs strategy not only minimise risks and manage liability, but it also generates savings and provides a competitive edge in relation to delivery, predictability and resilience.
4. Data digitalisation: What technologies will shape customs processes in 2026? How will digital customs solutions be a facilitator for international shipping? New digital customs solutions, and technological innovations, will be key. It is all about data. Examples can be found in data harmonisation using HS codes as the global standard but now powered by AI technology using WCO Data Model extensions to keep data requirements, quality and flows consistent. An example of increased complexity, particularly for e-commerce, is the much-debated cancellation of de minimis, which is a larger topic of compliance and enforcement. “De minimis” refers to a threshold value set by a country for imported goods, below which shipments can enter without paying customs duties and with simplified processing by customs. If the declared value of a shipment is under the de minimis threshold, it is allowed to be imported duty-free, while if the value is above the threshold, normal duties, taxes, and customs processes apply. This process is being faded out by some countries, e.g. the EU Member States reached a political agreement “to remove the 150 EUR customs duty relief threshold, transforming the way e-commerce goods are handled”. With several countries taking away the de minimis, consignments will be cleared with a full duty payment this will demand changes on both Government and private sector side to manage massive new volumes of customs declarations. Improved data management and innovative new solutions are needed to handle these changes.

Preparing for the future: action steps for 2026

How can businesses stay compliant with customs rules in 2026? How can they prepare for customs changes in 2026? Compliance will be seen as a differentiator between competitors. “The strategic use of trade compliance can truly make a difference” emphasises Lars Karlsson, Head of Global Trade and Customs Consulting Services at Maersk, adding that “customs is now a key topic in all boardrooms, where leadership realises what the tariff costs and compliance risks are and that an agile customs strategy is needed for the best way forward”.

2026 will see a greater focus on resilience, co-creation, and targeted guidance from customs experts. There’s a big opportunity for transformation, to use advance data to bring ease to businesses when it comes to customs. There is the necessity for co-creation between public and private sectors, to address common issues (such as clearance time) ahead of time, so that the solutions developed by the regulators are suitable for daily trade operations. 2026 will therefore see customs take on a more strategic role within commercial plans, where businesses will need to be compliant in an agile way, keeping costs down, and gaining reliability and peace of mind.

Be ready for customs to go all the way! Explore customs opportunities and consulting at Maersk or explore more trends like these at Maersk Logistics Insights.