Trade & Tech Podcast by Gaia Dynamics

10,000 importer verification notices, 88% failed to respond. Mark Tallo of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg on what CBP told the trade at the 2026 summit, and what importers and brokers have to do now.

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Mark Tallo, Managing Partner at Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, fresh from the 2026 CBP Trade and Cargo Security Summit in Dallas.

In this episode:

• Why "importing is a privilege, not a right" changes what CBP expects from every importer
• What the 10,000 verification notices, 9,000 voided numbers and 800 stolen identities say about the importer of record database
• The 5106 file, and why an old address or a name mismatch can now stop you importing
• What broker due diligence means beyond a power of attorney, and whether the standard changes with broker size
• The 64-question advance notice on supply chain visibility, and why the trade has to answer it
• How far upstream CBP really wants to see, and why the priority enforcement areas set the depth
• Why the 30-day response window no longer comes with extensions
• Whether importers should hold the documents their exporters filed abroad, and why only one Incoterm gives them access
• How CBP already uses AI: correcting missing Section 301 duties on every entry before paying CAPE refunds
• ACE as the data layer, the APIs CBP is starting to build, and what changes a year from now

0:00 Why the 2026 CBP summit felt different
1:40 Meet Mark Tallo (Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg)
2:29 Three days in Dallas, one message: importing is a privilege
6:06 "What does my company get out of it?" CBP: you get to import
11:27 Importer identity: 10,000 notices, 88% failed to verify
13:59 The 5106 file, and Tom's worry about nitpicky mismatches
16:58 Brokers as the frontline: what due diligence now requires
19:32 Two camps of brokers, and the bank account standard
25:02 The 64-question notice on supply chain visibility
29:49 How far upstream does CBP really want to see?
34:26 30 days, and no more extensions
35:00 Foreign export documents: should importers hold what the exporter filed?
39:51 AI at CBP: from reactive to predictive
45:40 Humans in the loop: does CBP hold itself to the same standard?
47:10 Forced labour, transshipment, AD/CVD: is a supplier certification enough?
49:21 ACE as the data layer, and its punch card pipelines
55:25 One year from now: what will be different

Hosted by Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould of Gaia Dynamics.

Three tariff announcements in five days, under three different laws. Tom Gould breaks down Canada's Section 338 tariffs, Brazil's Section 301 tariff, and the forced labour framework that replaced Section 122.

In this episode:

- Why Section 122 expired on 24 July and what replaced it overnight

- Canada's three Section 338 proclamations on dairy, alcohol and autos, and the 30-day delay written into a 1930 law

- Whether USMCA still protects Canadian goods

- Brazil's Section 301 tariff, already in effect, and how to read the 1,200 exempted tariff lines

- Which shipments qualify for in-transit relief, and why it only applies to ocean freight

- The four rate buckets in the new Section 301 forced labour framework, covering 60 economies

- How Section 301, Section 232 and MFN duties stack, and the ordering question CBP has not answered

- Why importers filing IEEPA refund claims in CAPE are getting duty bills back

- A Monday morning checklist for trade, sourcing and procurement teams

0:00 Why we recorded this one without a guest

1:26 What made this week so confusing

2:50 Canada: the 50% Section 338 tariffs

4:00 Dairy, alcohol, autos, and how hockey equipment got on the list

5:28 Negotiating tactic or real deadline?

6:34 Does USMCA still protect Canadian goods?

7:38 The first thing Canadian importers should review

9:32 Brazil: same result, different law, already in effect

12:26 In-transit relief: which shipments actually qualify

13:56 Section 122 expires, Section 301 forced labour takes over

15:26 The four rate buckets, country by country

18:48 Exclusions and stacking: what applies on top of what

21:38 Section 122 refunds and protecting your rights

23:22 Enforcement is back, and CBP is using AI to find errors

27:32 Your Monday morning checklist

48 teams, 16 cities, three countries, 104 matches. Every ball, uniform and camera had to clear customs first. How ATA carnets made the 2026 World Cup possible.

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Amanda Barlow, VP of Risk Management and Business Affairs at The Rock-It Company, FIFA's official logistics partner, and Kelli Milianti, ATA Carnet Service Manager at Roanoke Trade.

In this episode:

- What an ATA carnet is, and what it costs you to move equipment without one

- Why the US, Canada and Mexico still run carnets on paper in a cardboard folder

- The mistakes that turn into carnet claims: missing serial numbers, unstamped exits, swapped equipment

- Turning around hundreds of carnets in hours for broadcasters who do not know which match they are covering

- What happens when the origin country is not part of the carnet system

- Which agencies beyond CBP get involved, from FDA to FMCSA to USDA

- What happens to equipment, giveaways and merchandise after the tournament ends

- The WCO deadline for fully digital carnets, and what it means for LA 2028

- Where AI is genuinely useful in time-critical logistics, and where it is not

0:00 Why a World Cup episode on a trade podcast

1:36 Meet Amanda Barlow and Kelli Milianti

4:22 The scale: three countries, 16 cities, 48 teams, 104 matches

6:30 Three host countries, three sets of border rules

7:12 "It is literally 104 Super Bowls"

9:56 Two years of planning, and a Club Cup dry run

12:04 How sports logistics differs from commercial freight

14:00 ATA carnets explained: a passport for your goods

15:56 The mistakes that turn into carnet claims

16:54 Still a paper document in a cardboard folder

19:20 Hundreds of carnets for broadcasters, turned around in hours

20:32 The digital carnet that almost stranded a crew in Boston

27:26 Every agency involved: CBP, FDA, DOT, FMCSA, USDA

32:00 Equipment vs merchandise: what actually gets duties

34:30 What it will take for the US to accept digital carnets

37:56 Do carnets need HTS classification?

40:30 Where AI helps in freight, and where it does not

A third of 30,000 entries showed discrepancies. Rennie Alston and Michael Roll on what CBP sees when you file a CAPE refund claim, and Tom Gould on why the refund and the audit cannot be separated.

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Rennie Alston, CEO of American River Group and The Alston Group, and Michael Roll, Partner at Roll & Harris LLP.

In this episode:

• What you are actually swearing to when you check the attestation box on a CAPE filing
• Why CBP has to liquidate an entry before it can refund anything, and why liquidation is final
• The validations CBP and broker software stopped running in 2025, and the errors that followed
• Why a value entered on the wrong line can get a whole CAPE claim rejected
• Whether CBP will offset or penalize if you claimed IEEPA correctly but underpaid Section 232 or 301
• Why reasonable care has required reviewing your broker's work since 1993
• Why filing with known entry problems is the biggest risk, and why value and origin are the hot-button issues
• The worst case for companies that filed without checking their data
• How to bucket your entries so the clean ones go first

0:00 IEEPA refunds, CAPE, and the risk behind the recovery
1:06 Meet Rennie Alston and Michael Roll
2:21 What changed: the rush to be first in line for a refund
5:46 The attestation box: what you swear to when you file
8:17 Why 2025 entry data went unchecked
11:25 Value on the wrong line, and a rejected CAPE claim
13:35 30,000 entries reviewed, a third with discrepancies
16:38 Reasonable care since 1993: reviewing your broker is required
18:59 Poke the bear? Filing now vs auditing first
22:29 Why the refund and the audit cannot be separated
27:11 Why a 100% audit is now possible
30:32 What escalates fastest: known problems, value and origin
32:35 When things go wrong: the duty to correct
35:43 Worst case, and who gets eaten by the bear
38:37 Bear spray: what ACE shows after you file
43:12 How to bucket your entries before you file

Hosted by Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould of Gaia Dynamics.

About 500,000 US importers and exporters, and fewer than one in ten importers has a trade compliance team. Caspian's Justin Sherlock on AI in customs, tariff refunds, and what the CBP ruling on customs business means for brokers.

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Justin Sherlock, co-founder and CEO of Caspian, a licensed customs broker and former head of Flexport Capital.

In this episode:

• How a finance career and a Flexport acquisition in Canada led Justin into customs
• Why the customs broker is becoming an adviser rather than a data entry clerk
• What Caspian does with messy ERP exports, forwarder spreadsheets and trade documents
• Why the same product looks different to the industry, the broker and customs
• Selling to buyers who arrive with answers from off-the-shelf AI
• What the CBP ruling says about who is allowed to do customs business
• Why the risk of doing nothing is now bigger than the risk of new technology
• The communication problem in trade, and the 80-character message set behind ACE
• Justin's one piece of advice: store and centralize your own trade documents

0:00 A new track: talking to founders building trade tech
1:25 Meet Justin Sherlock (Caspian)
3:06 From finance to building in trade
8:04 Tom on NAFTA and the rules nobody understood
9:51 From bicycles and clipboards to data entry clerks
11:15 The broker as adviser, and when tariffs outgrow taxes
13:11 What Caspian does, and 500,000 importers without trade teams
23:07 Is a t-shirt a t-shirt? Not to customs
25:34 Selling to buyers who already asked ChatGPT
31:33 From copilot to autopilot, and the CBP ruling
35:40 The offshore labor and OCR rulings CBP has not enforced yet
40:05 The bigger risk is doing nothing
41:38 ERPs that cannot store more than a few classifications
44:18 What is fundamentally hard to automate?
46:54 Trade has no Plaid: the communication problem
49:39 Rapid fire: misconception, trend, and advice

Hosted by Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould of Gaia Dynamics.

Released 19 February 2026, the day before the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs 6-3. What the Court was asked to decide, and the refund paths importers were lining up before the ruling.

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Cameron Roberts, Managing Partner at Roberts & Kehagiaras LLP and a licensed customs broker since 1989.

In this episode:

• What the Supreme Court was actually asked to decide, and why "regulate" is the key word
• The two tariff buckets: fentanyl tariffs and reciprocal tariffs
• Why this is a separation of powers case, and what Congress would need to take the power back
• The government's best argument: a foreign policy tool, not a revenue measure
• Three scenarios, and why a partial ruling would bring more lawsuits
• The protest path: liquidation around 10 months after release, then 180 days to file
• Why Costco and others also sued at the Court of International Trade, and the unclear two-year clock
• The 40% transshipment penalty, and the vessel arrest risk behind it
• Why Tom warned refunds would not flow back quickly or easily

0:00 Waiting on the Supreme Court: why this episode, why now
0:50 Meet Cameron Roberts (Roberts & Kehagiaras)
3:11 What was the Supreme Court asked to decide?
4:19 Two buckets: fentanyl tariffs and reciprocal tariffs
6:51 Why this is a separation of powers case
10:55 The government's best case for the IEEPA tariffs
12:59 Foreign policy tool, or taxation by another name?
15:06 Is there a middle path for the Court?
18:59 Three scenarios: upheld, struck down, or partial
21:55 If the tariffs are struck down, is the impact immediate?
25:50 What companies should do before the ruling
27:42 The protest path: 10 to 16 months from release
28:43 The Court of International Trade path, and why Costco sued
30:59 What you can control, and the 40% transshipment penalty
34:35 Vessel arrest, demurrage, and cargo owner exposure
39:23 Lightning round: ignore the noise, spread the risk

UPDATE: the Court ruled on 20 February 2026. Section 301, Section 232 and AD/CVD duties were not affected, and a temporary Section 122 tariff followed on 24 February.

Hosted by Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould of Gaia Dynamics.

Gaia scored 100% on the customs broker exam. Gemini 63%, ChatGPT 38%, Claude 25%. Why does general AI fail at classification?

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Carlos Alzate, Chief Technology Officer at Gaia Dynamics, formerly CTO at AI Fund and a research scientist at IBM Research.

In this episode:

• What actually happens when a general model answers a classification question
• Why none of the general models would have passed the customs broker exam
• How Tom classifies a novel product, and why it used to take an hour at minimum
• What reasonable care means when AI helps gather the evidence
• Where AI excels today, and why full ten-digit accuracy is still hard
• What signals CBP is sending about AI, and why it already uses AI itself
• Whether to start with a standalone tool or integrate with your ERP
• The security checks to run on any AI vendor, including prompt injection
• Tom's advice for anyone who has not started: pick something and start
  

0:00 Welcome back: what 2026 looks like so far
1:06 Meet Carlos Alzate (Gaia CTO, ex-AI Fund and IBM Research)
4:20 What actually happens when you ask ChatGPT a question
7:31 The broker exam: Gaia 100%, Gemini 63%, ChatGPT 38%, Claude 25%
9:14 Why specialised tools beat general models
14:34 How Tom classifies a novel product, step by step
17:17 How AI builds the reasonable care record
18:57 Where AI excels: 18,000 codes narrowed to 40
24:23 Why full ten-digit accuracy is still hard
27:32 What signals is CBP sending about AI?
32:43 AI as a junior analyst you still review
33:24 Standalone tool or ERP integration?
37:22 When not using AI stops being reasonable care
42:22 Security: data residency, isolation, audit trails, prompt injection
46:08 The risk of adopting AI too slowly
48:41 What's next: multimodal, reasoning, and agents
52:09 Tom's advice: pick something and start

Hosted by Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould of Gaia Dynamics.

2025 brought 31 versions of the tariff schedule and an average US tariff of 18.6%. Two customs veterans on what broke, and what they expected for 2026.

Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould are joined by Bojan Strbanovic, Global Director of Trade at Logistics Plus, and Steve Bozicevic, CEO of A&A Customs Brokers, for the first episode of the show.

In this episode:

• Why 2025 was unlike any year in trade, from new tariff books to Friday night rule changes
• What changed for businesses on both sides of the US and Canada border
• Whether the 2025 tariffs achieved what they set out to do
• How the end of de minimis and an 18.6% average tariff hit small importers
• Whether CBP will accept classifications done with the help of AI
• What technology has actually changed in customs work, from OCR to AI
• Three predictions for 2026, including Tom's call on the Supreme Court
• The two legal theories for recovering IEEPA duties
• Train the AI: tariff engineering, packaging, rumors and team workflows
  

0:00 Why we started recording our advisory calls
0:40 Meet Bojan Strbanovic (Logistics Plus) and Steve Bozicevic (A&A Customs Brokers)
3:44 Has anyone seen a crazier year than 2025?
4:24 New tariff books twice a year, then rules made on a Friday
6:27 Both sides of the border: what changed in one year
9:15 Did the 2025 tariffs achieve their goals?
10:40 Billions in duties, millions in fees: a UPS story
12:18 Small importers, Canada, and why USMCA paperwork calmed the panic
14:02 De minimis ends, and the average tariff hits 18.6%
15:26 Will CBP accept classifications done with AI?
17:21 What tech has actually changed, from OCR to AI
20:37 The global view: AI with a human in the loop, and a rumor agent
22:52 2026 predictions: Steve bets on stability
24:45 Tom's call: the Supreme Court strikes down the IEEPA tariffs
26:31 Two legal theories for getting IEEPA refunds
28:10 Bob's prediction: lobbying, exclusions, and other tools
30:23 Train the AI: tariff engineering and where to source
32:09 Packaging, metal content, and olives stuck at JFK
32:59 Train the AI: rumors and team workflows

Hosted by Emil Stefanutti and Tom Gould of Gaia Dynamics.

Join Tom and Emil in monthly conversations about trade and tech. Our first episode drops December 10 across all major platforms!