On May 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement under the False Claims Act (FCA) with two Canada-based steel companies, Farjess Inc. and Royal Canadian Steel Inc., and their part-owner and president, Feroz Jessani, pursuant to which the companies and Jessani agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations that they knowingly and improperly misrepresented the country of origin and failed to pay duties owed on flat-rolled steel manufactured in Europe and Asia. The settlement underscores the government’s continued and aggressive use of the FCA to pursue Trump Administration policy priorities, including the active implementation of tariffs and customs duties, and reinforces the importance of accurate country-of-origin declarations when importing foreign materials and products.

On May 7, 2026, the Department of War (DoW) published a proposed rule that would dramatically expand the population of defense contractors that are required to disclose beneficial ownership and foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) information to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) and to mitigate identified FOCI risks. At present, DCSA addresses FOCI only when a contractor requires access to classified information in the performance of a classified contract. The proposed rule, which amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), would require reporting and mitigation of FOCI for DoW contractors and subcontractors that seek to perform on unclassified non-commercial contracts, as well as certain unclassified commercial contracts. The proposed rule would apply to DoW contracts and subcontracts valued in excess of $5 million and implements provisions of the National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 and DoD Instruction 5205.87.