Graham, Whitehouse Introduce Bill to Crack Down on International Trade Violations That Hurt American Workers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) today introduced a bill to strengthen the Department of Justice's (DOJ) ability to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes.

Chinese companies frequently violate U.S. trade laws by committing crimes including fraud, duty evasion, and avoiding customs checks at ports. These actions benefit the Chinese Communist Party's monopolistic economy and have a detrimental effect on U.S. companies and workers. The Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act combats these crimes by directing 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," said Senator Graham. "I'm glad to work with my colleagues on legislation to increase DOJ's ability to investigate and prosecute these crimes."

"International kleptocrats, smugglers, and shady front companies exploit American trade laws designed to protect workers, companies, and consumers," said Senator Whitehouse. "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."

"We applaud Senator Graham and Senator Whitehouse for their leadership on introducing the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act, companion legislation that would create a formal structure within the Department of Justice's Criminal Division to aggressively combat widespread trade fraud that is adversely impacting American manufacturers. 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," said National Council of Textile Organizations President and CEO Kim Glas.

Specifically, this bill:

• Establishes a new task force or similar structure within the DOJ's Criminal Division to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes.
• Enhances 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.
• Requires the Attorney General to submit an annual report to Congress assessing the DOJ's efforts, statistics on trade-related crimes, and fund utilization.
• Authorizes $20,000,000 for FY 2025 to support these efforts with appropriate guardrails.

The bill has been cosponsored by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). A companion bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa-02).

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