Import Security and Fairness Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4148 To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 relating to de minimus treatment under that Act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2023 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself and Mr. DUNN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 relating to de minimus treatment under that Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Import Security and 4 Fairness Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL EXCEPTIONS TO EXEMPTIONS FOR DE 6 MINIMIS TREATMENT UNDER THE TARIFF 7 ACT OF 1930. 8 Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 9 1321) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4148 IH (1) in subsection (a)— 1 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 2 by striking ‘‘(a) The Secretary’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 4 (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking 5 ‘‘$800’’ and inserting ‘‘except as provided in 6 subsection (b)(1), $800’’; and 7 (C) in the matter following such paragraph 8 (2)(C), as so amended, by striking ‘‘subdivision 9 (2)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘para- 10 graph’’; and 11 (2) by striking ‘‘(b) The Secretary’’ and insert- 12 ing the following: 13 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An article may not be ad- 15 mitted free of duty or tax under the authority pro- 16 vided by subsection (a)(2)(C) if the country of origin 17 of such article, or the country from which such arti- 18 cle is shipped, is— 19 ‘‘(A) a nonmarket economy country (as 20 such term is defined in section 771(18)); and 21 ‘‘(B) a country included in the priority 22 watch list (as such term is defined in section 23 182(g)(3) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 24 2242(g)(3))). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4148 IH ‘‘(2) OTHER EXCEPTIONS.—The Secretary’’. 1 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS RELAT- 2 ING TO DE MINIMIS TREATMENT UNDER THE 3 TARIFF ACT OF 1930. 4 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE EXEMPTIONS.—Section 321 of 5 the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321), as amended by 6 section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTATION AND INFOR- 9 MATION.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For any articles that may 11 qualify for an administrative exemption pursuant to 12 subsection (a)(2), the Secretary of the Treasury 13 shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the 14 enactment of the Import Security and Fairness Act, 15 prescribe regulations to require the submission, 16 transmission, or otherwise making available of such 17 documentation or information to U.S. Customs and 18 Border Protection as the Secretary determines is 19 reasonably necessary for U.S. Customs and Border 20 Protection to determine the eligibility of such arti- 21 cles to qualify for such exemption. 22 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The regula- 23 tions prescribed under paragraph (1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4148 IH ‘‘(A) shall require that documentation or 1 information with respect to an article described 2 in that paragraph include, at a minimum— 3 ‘‘(i) a description of the article; 4 ‘‘(ii) the appropriate classification of 5 the article under the Harmonized Tariff 6 Schedule of the United States; 7 ‘‘(iii) the country of origin of the arti- 8 cle; 9 ‘‘(iv) the country from which the arti- 10 cle is shipped; 11 ‘‘(v) the identity of the shipper; 12 ‘‘(vi) the identity of the importer; and 13 ‘‘(vii) the transaction value of the ar- 14 ticle in the United States; and 15 ‘‘(B) may provide that such documentation 16 or information include other documentation or 17 information regarding the offer for sale or pur- 18 chase, or the subsequent sale, purchase, trans- 19 portation, importation or warehousing of an ar- 20 ticle described in paragraph (1), including such 21 documentation or information relating to the of- 22 fering of the article for sale or purchase in the 23 United States through a commercial or mar- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4148 IH keting platform, including an electronic com- 1 mercial or marketing platform. 2 ‘‘(3) VERACITY OF DOCUMENTATION AND IN- 3 FORMATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The regulations pre- 5 scribed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall provide 6 that— 7 ‘‘(i) the documentation or information 8 described in that paragraph is true and 9 correct to the best of the knowledge and 10 belief of the party submitting, transmit- 11 ting, or otherwise making available such 12 documentation or information, subject to 13 any penalties authorized by law; or 14 ‘‘(ii) if such party is not able to rea- 15 sonably verify whether such documentation 16 or information is true and correct to the 17 best of the knowledge and belief of the 18 party, such documentation or information 19 may be submitted, transmitted, or other- 20 wise made available on the basis of what 21 the party reasonably believes to be true 22 and correct. 23 ‘‘(B) USE FOR ANY LAWFUL PURPOSE.— 24 Such documentation or information may be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4148 IH used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection 1 for any lawful purpose. 2 ‘‘(4) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any person who vio- 3 lates the regulations prescribed pursuant to para- 4 graph (1) is liable for a civil penalty of $5,000 for 5 the first violation, and $10,000 for each subsequent 6 violation. A penalty imposed under this paragraph is 7 in addition to any other penalty provided by law. 8 ‘‘(d) IMPORTATIONS INVOLVING SUSPENDED OR 9 DEBARRED PERSONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury is 10 authorized to prescribe regulations to authorize exceptions 11 to any administrative exemption pursuant to subsection 12 (a) for any articles the importation of which is caused or 13 otherwise facilitated by any person suspended or debarred 14 from doing business with the Federal Government at the 15 time of the importation.’’. 16 (b) EXAMINATION OF MERCHANDISE.—Section 17 499(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1499(c)) is 18 amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘the Customs Service’’ each 20 place it appears and inserting ‘‘U.S. Customs and 21 Border Protection’’; and 22 (2) in paragraph (2)— 23 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 24 Customs Service’’ and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4148 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—U.S. Customs and 1 Border Protection’’; 2 (B) in the second sentence— 3 (i) by striking ‘‘The’’ and inserting 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.— 6 The’’; and 7 (ii) by redesignating the subsequent 8 subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), and (E) 9 as clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v), re- 10 spectively, and moving such clauses, as re- 11 designated, 2 ems to the right; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELAT- 14 ING TO MERCHANDISE THAT MAY QUALIFY FOR 15 CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE EXEMPTIONS.— 16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In a case in which 17 U.S. Customs and Border Protection has 18 made a decision to detain merchandise that 19 may qualify for an administrative exemp- 20 tion pursuant to section 321(a)(2)(C), U.S. 21 Customs and Border Protection shall issue 22 such notice to each party that U.S. Cus- 23 toms and Border Protections determines 24 may have an interest in the detained mer- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4148 IH chandise, based on information reasonably 1 available to U.S. Customs and Border Pro- 2 tection, in such form and manner as the 3 Secretary of the Treasury shall by regula- 4 tion prescribe. 5 ‘‘(ii) VOLUNTARY ABANDONMENT OF 6 MERCHANDISE.—In the case of merchan- 7 dise described in clause (i), such notice 8 shall also advise each such interested party 9 that, in lieu of supplying information to 10 U.S. Customs and Border Protection in ac- 11 cordance with subparagraph (B)(v), the in- 12 terested parties may voluntarily abandon 13 the merchandise. 14 ‘‘(iii) ABANDONMENT OR EXPORT DUE 15 TO LACK OF RESPONSE.—If U.S. Customs 16 and Border Protection does not receive a 17 response from each interested party in 18 merchandise described in clause (i) within 19 30 days of the date on which such notice 20 is issued to the interested parties, the mer- 21 chandise may— 22 ‘‘(I) be denied entry and be per- 23 mitted to be exported, with the im- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4148 IH porter responsible for paying all ex- 1 penses of exportation; or 2 ‘‘(II) be deemed to be abandoned, 3 in which case title to such merchan- 4 dise shall be vested in the United 5 States and the merchandise shall be 6 disposed of in accordance with law.’’. 7 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 8 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 9 respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse 10 for consumption, on or after the 180th day after the date 11 of the enactment of this Act. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4148.IH H4148 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS