Senate Bill for CBP Investigations of AD/CV Duty Evasion Introduced
On May 26, 2011, Senator Wyden (D)1 introduced S. 1133, the Enforcing Orders and Reducing Circumvention Evasion (ENFORCE) Act, a bipartisan measure to require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to quickly investigate allegations of antidumping and countervailing duty evasion in order to counteract the effects evasion has had on domestic manufacturing. A similar measure is expected in the House.
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In his press release, Senator Wyden accuses CBP of being “asleep at the switch” and says that “U.S. enforcement abilities must be up to the task of dealing with trade cheaters and this bill gives them the discipline they need to investigate, prosecute and collect from those willing to evade U.S. law.”
See ITT’s Online Archives or 05/27/11 news, 11052734, for BP summary of a recent Senate Appropriations hearing at which CBP officials testified on over $1 billion in AD/CV duty evasion and changes that are needed to stop such evasion.)
Would Require 90-Day Evasion Investigation by CBP, Cash Deposits
According to the press release, the ENFORCE Act would:
CBP to investigate evasion allegation - establish a rapid-response timeline by which CBP would respond to allegations of evasion. The bill would require CBP to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to believe an importer is evading an AD/CVD order within 90 days of an allegation being put forward.
Cash deposit if prelim is affirmative - if an affirmative preliminary determination is made, the ENFORCE Act would require that AD/CVD penalties be collected in cash until the investigation is concluded.
Info sharing among agencies - increase the safety of imports by authorizing information sharing among the appropriate agencies when the government determines that an importer may be attempting to evade an AD/CVD order.
1Senator Wyden is Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s Trade Subcommittee. His initial co-sponsors for S. 1133 are listed as Senators Snowe (R), McCaskill (D), Blunt (R), Brown (D), Portman (R), and Schumer (D).
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 05/10/11 news,11051026, for BP summary of Senator Wyden’s hearing on AD/CV enforcement in which he said he planned to reintroduce the ENFORCE Act in 2011.
See ITT’s Online Archives or 09/14/10 news, 10091417, for BP summary of the 2010 Senate ENFORCE Act. See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/22/10 news, 10122225, for BP summary of 2010 House ENFORCE Act.
Senator Wyden’s press release available here