U.S. Customs: Significant increase in counterfeit seizures in 2025
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reported that it seized approximately 78.4 million counterfeit and other intellectual property-infringing goods during its fiscal year 2025. This represents a sharp increase compared to the previous year (approx. 32.3 million items), when fewer than half as many items had been seized. The total value of the seized goods – based on the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of the genuine products – also rose sharply, reaching approximately 7.4 billion U.S. dollars (equivalent to about 6.37 billion euros) in 2025, up from about 5.4 billion U.S. dollars (about 4.65 billion euros) in the previous year. This is according to this year’s CBP report Intellectual Property Rights Seizure Statistics.
China and Hong Kong remain primary countries of origin
According to the report, approximately 67% of the seized goods originated from China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. China led in the number of intercepted goods with about 39.9 million units, followed by Vietnam (approx. 22.9 million) and Hong Kong (approx. 12.2 million). South Korea (about 0.9 million) and India (around 0.7 million) also ranked among the top five countries.
In terms of the value of goods, China also ranked first, with approximately 5.16 billion U.S. dollars, well ahead of Hong Kong (approx. 1.28 billion U.S. dollars). Rounding out the top five were Colombia (approx. 116.1 million U.S. dollars), South Korea (approx. 105.6 million U.S. dollars), and Vietnam (approx. 54.9 million U.S. dollars).
Jewelry and watches drive the value of seized goods
When looking at individual product categories, the jewelry sector immediately stands out, topping the list of the most affected products by value at approximately 3.23 billion U.S. dollars. It is followed in the ranking by other fashion and luxury goods, with watches (approx. 1.45 billion U.S. dollars) and bags/wallets (approx. 978.2 million U.S. dollars). Rounding out the top five are packaging (approx. 188.5 million U.S. dollars) and consumer electronics (approx. 182.0 million U.S. dollars).
Shift to sea freight following suspension of the de minimis rule
In the CBP fiscal year 2025, approximately 62% of the seizures reportedly occurred in sea freight (commercial vessel environment) – a significant shift from previous years, when primarily lower-value de minimis shipments were affected.
According to CBP, this shift is likely due to the suspension of the de minimis exemption, first for shipments from China and Hong Kong in May 2025 and then for all countries in August 2025. With the exemption no longer available, counterfeiters are beginning to ship through containerized cargo. In terms of goods value, despite lower volumes, the express courier sector led with approximately 3.70 billion U.S. dollars, ahead of sea freight (approx. 2.10 billion U.S. dollars). Air freight followed in third place with approximately 1.28 billion U.S. dollars.
Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Intellectual Property Rights Seizure Statistics - Fiscal Year 2025 | Article in co-operation with Anti-Piracy Analyst
