Ford Motor Company has agreed to pay $365 million to settle civil penalty claims relating to customs violations. The company was found to have breached the Tariff Act of 1930 by misclassifying the value of hundreds of thousands of its Transit Connect vehicles.

The Department of Justice revealed in a press release that Ford had imported Transit Connect cargo vans from Turkey into the United States with counterfeit features designed to make the vans appear as passenger vehicles. By doing so, Ford was able to present these vehicles to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from April 2009 to March 2013, thereby avoiding the 25% duty rate applicable to cargo vehicles. The faux seats and other features installed in the vans resulted in Ford being required to pay a duty rate of only 2.5%. After inspection, Ford employees would remove the rear seats, returning the vehicles to their original identity as two-seat cargo vans.

The resolution between Ford and the Justice Department was facilitated by the Trade Fraud Task Force, an entity created by the Justice Department with a mandate to detect trade fraud within the United States. The settlement process involved coordination between CBP and the Civil Division's International Field Office, an agency tasked with ensuring compliance with U.S trade laws.

Senior Official Performing Duties of the Commissioner Troy A. Miller of CBP commented on this development: "This settlement, which is one of the largest customs penalty settlements in recent history, demonstrates that U.S. Customs and Border Protection will pursue even the largest companies to ensure that all importers follow the rules; our intent is to enforce the customs laws fairly, which means that non-compliance is not an option for anyone," said Miller. "The partnership between CBP and the Justice Department provides a critical safeguard to protect the revenue of the United States."