The proposed bill would also create a new task force within the agency to crack down on trade abuses and provide funding to help it carry out its mission.
More than a dozen lawmakers from both parties introduced bills last week. Give the Department of Justice new powers and funding Addressing China’s trade crimes, including trade fraud, customs evasion, and transshipment.
The Protecting America’s Industry and Workforce from International Trade Crimes Act is sponsored by House China Communist Party Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Ranking Committee Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), as well as Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and other members of the committee.
members are, Legislative intent:
Companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) frequently commit fraud, tariff evasion, transshipment, and other crimes that violate U.S. trade laws, benefiting China’s non-market economy and undermining American businesses and workers. This criminal activity puts countless Americans out of work. Despite the high volume of trade crime-related cases, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has not devoted sufficient resources to prosecuting these crimes.
This bill aims to combat these crimes by directing the Department of Justice to establish a new organization focused on prosecuting international trade crimes, which will strengthen the United States’ ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute trade fraud, customs evasion, transshipment, and other trade-related crimes.
Specifically, the bill would create a new task force within the Justice Department’s Criminal Division to investigate and prosecute trade crimes and require the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress on the Department’s efforts.
But the bill gives agencies the tools to do this work, including $20 million in fiscal year 2025, as well as training and technical assistance to local, state and national law enforcement agencies, with the goal of expanding investigations and prosecutions.
Scott Paul, president of the Federation of American Manufacturing, praised the bill.
“This legislation rightfully prioritizes the prosecution of trade crimes, and is badly needed and long overdue,” Paul said. “Customs fraud and other trade crimes have a wide reach, hurting domestic industries, destroying jobs, and robbing communities across the country of an economic lifeline.”
Other groups supporting the bipartisan bill include the Uyghur Campaign, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the National Council of Textile Organizations and the Coalition for a Prosperous America.
Read more about the bill here.
