The U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed legislation recently that seeks to establish a new structure dedicated to prosecuting international trade crimes.
The bipartisan Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act is designed to combat the fraud, duty evasion, and transshipment frequently committed by Chinese companies by establishing a new structure dedicated to prosecuting international trade crimes.
“Committee passage of my bipartisan Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act is a significant step forward and important victory for American workers. Communist China has blatantly violated U.S. trade laws and ripped off American workers without consequences for too long, gutting rural manufacturing towns and enabling CCP forced labor. This bipartisan bill will ensure we finally crack down on Communist China’s illicit trade practices so that we can reshore American manufacturing,” Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), one of the bill’s sponsors, said.
Companies based in China frequently commit crimes violating U.S. trade laws, including trade fraud, duty evasion, and transshipment, which undermine U.S. companies. However, despite the large volume of trade crime-related cases, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has under-resourced its prosecution of these crimes.
Hinson’s Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act would:
• Establish a new task force or similar structure within the DOJ’s Criminal Division to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes.
• Enhance nationwide responses to trade-related offenses by providing training and technical assistance to other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, expanding investigations and prosecutions, and allowing for parallel criminal and civil enforcement actions.
• Require the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress assessing the DOJ’s efforts, statistics on trade-related crimes, and fund utilization.
Along with Hinson, it was sponsored by Reps. John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).
“This excellent bipartisan bill will protect U.S. companies and workers by strengthening our country’s efforts to prosecute trade crimes, including fraud, duty evasion, and shipping from other countries to avoid our laws. This legislation was included in the Select Committee’s bipartisan policy recommendations last year, and I am committed to working with Rep. Ashley Hinson, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi, Chairman Cole, and the Department of Justice to deliver funding to implement this legislation,” Moolenaar said.
The bill now moves to the full House for consideration.
“For years, the CCP’s predatory trade policies have violated American trade laws and taken advantage of American companies, workers, and consumers through trade crimes like dumping, duty evasion, and fraud. The bipartisan passage of our bill today through the Judiciary Committee is a critical step toward holding perpetrators criminally liable for these illegal activities. I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to make sure this bill becomes law so that the Department of Justice receives the resources it needs to stand up the new enforcement unit outlined in our bill,” Krishnamoorthi said.