Industry News

Senate Bill Targets CBP Investigations of AD/CV Duty Evasion

June 3, 2011


On May 26, 2011, Senator Wyden (D-OR) introduced into the Senate S.1133, the Enforcing Orders and Reducing Circumvention Evasion (ENFORCE) Act. The bill is intended to prevent the evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders, and to force U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to quickly investigate allegations of antidumping and countervailing duty evasion. A bipartisan group of Senators co-sponsored the bill, including Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Senator Wyden intends for the bill to force CBP action, stating in his press release that “Customs has been asleep at the switch.” According to Senator Snowe, “The ENFORCE Act is a vital step to make certain our government has the tools to protect American companies from blatant trade violations.” The ENFORCE Act establishes a rapid-response timeline in which Customs must respond to allegations of evasion. The bill would give Customs 90 days after receiving an allegation to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to believe an importer is evading an antidumping or countervailing duty order. Additionally, if an affirmative preliminary determination is made, the ENFORCE Act will require that antidumping and countervailing penalties be collected, in cash, until the investigation is concluded. The ENFORCE Act also authorizes information sharing among certain government agencies when the government determines that an importer may be attempting to evade an antidumping or countervailing duty order. A similar bill is expected to be introduced in the House in the near future.

For further information, continue to visit www.barnesrichardson.com or contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney.