U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced legislation designed to strengthen the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ability to prosecute trade-related crimes.
The lawmakers note that Chinese companies frequently violate U.S. trade laws by committing crimes including fraud, duty evasion, and avoiding customs checks at ports.
The Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act would combat these crimes by directing the DOJ to establish a new structure for prosecuting international trade crimes.
“The Chinese Communist Party and other bad actors exploit U.S. trade laws at the expense of American companies and workers,” Graham said. “I’m glad to work with my colleagues on legislation to increase DOJ’s ability to investigate and prosecute these crimes.”
Specifically, the bill 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; and
• Authorize $20,000,000 for FY 2025 to support these efforts with appropriate guardrails.
“International kleptocrats, smugglers, and shady front companies exploit American trade laws designed to protect workers, companies, and consumers,” Whitehouse said. “Our bipartisan legislation will bolster the Department of Justice’s capacity to pursue criminal cases and hold violators accountable for their efforts to undermine American businesses.”
The bill drew the support of the National Council of Textile Organizations.
“It is imperative that our government have the necessary tools to prosecute a range of trade crimes, including products made with forced labor that are evading the U.S. ban on such imports, fraudulent rules of origin claims under our free trade agreements, evasion of duties through abuse of the de minimis loophole, and myriad other predatory practices. This legislation is designed to do just that, by creating new federal tools and resources for DOJ to urgently address the pervasive trade crimes impacting our industry and ensuring those facilitating these crimes will be held accountable,” National Council of Textile Organizations President and CEO Kim Glas said.
The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
A companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL).