I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10451 

To establish requirements and impose civil penalties on certain entities of 

the People’s Republic of China that do not employ appropriate safeguards 

to prevent fentanyl trafficking. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2024 

Mr. DUNN of Florida (for himself, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. 

KHANNA, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mrs. STEEL, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. MOOLENAAR, and Mr. TORRES of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish requirements and impose civil penalties on certain entities of the People’s Republic of China that do 

not employ appropriate safeguards to prevent fentanyl 

trafficking. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Protec3 tion from PRC Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS AND CIVIL PENALTIES FOR PRC 

6 VESSELS FACILITATING THE FENTANYL 

7 TRADE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 

10 coordination with the Administrator of the Drug Enforce11 ment Administration and other executive agencies as ap12 propriate, shall establish minimum acceptable standards 

13 for PRC entities involved in the production, sale, or ship14 ment of fentanyl precursors, other chemicals, or materials 

15 used or intended for use in the production of synthetic 

16 opioids or other controlled substances. 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The standards required by 

18 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, require— 

19 (1) PRC ports and vessels to properly manifest 

20 fentanyl precursors or other chemicals used or in21 tended for use in the production of synthetic opioids 

22 in customs forms; 

23 (2) PRC exporters of fentanyl precursors or 

24 other chemicals used for the production of synthetic 

25 opioids utilizing any medium of transport to follow 


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1 formal entry requirements regardless of the size or 

2 value of shipment; and 

3 (3) information gathered pursuant to para4 graphs (1) and (2) to be provided to the Attorney 

5 General, and other executive agencies as appro6 priate, with respect to any shipment to the United 

7 States or another jurisdiction which has not objected 

8 to the sharing of such information with the Attorney 

9 General. 

10 (c) CIVIL PENALTIES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE.—Not 

11 later than 180 days after the date on which the standards 

12 required by subsection (a) have been established, the At13 torney General shall impose a civil penalty of .025 percent 

14 of the total value of goods present on a vessel or $250,000, 

15 whichever is greater, on all vessels owned, operated, or 

16 leased by a PRC entity that— 

17 (1) owns, operates, or leases a vessel offloading 

18 cargo at a United States port of entry; and 

19 (2) is determined by the Attorney General to 

20 not be in compliance with the standards required 

21 under subsection (a), following not less than 90 days 

22 notice to the PRC entity of the proposed determina23 tion and a proposed course of action to remedy such 

24 noncompliance. 


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1 (d) ESCALATING CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Attorney 

2 General shall increase the civil penalty described in sub3 section (c) by 0.025 percent of the total value of goods 

4 present on the vessel, or $250,000, whichever is greater, 

5 for each 90-day period in which the entity remains in non6 compliance with the standards required under subsection 

7 (a). 

8 (e) INCREASED PENALTIES FOR FALSIFICATION OF

9 RECORDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any civil penalty imposed 

11 under this section shall be doubled in cases where an 

12 entity falsifies material records to demonstrate com13 pliance with subsection (a). 

14 (2) CALCULATION.—Such increased penalties 

15 shall be in addition to any other remedies available 

16 under United States law. 

17 (f) ALLOCATION OF PENALTIES.—All penalties col18 lected under this section shall be deposited into a special 

19 fund to be used exclusively by the Attorney General and 

20 the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administra21 tion to enforce laws related to drug trafficking, trade 

22 fraud, and forced labor affiliated with the PRC. 

23 (g) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date on which the standards required by sub25 section (a) are published, the President shall report to 


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1 Congress on not less than a bi-annual basis the status of 

2 implementation and enforcement of this Act. The report 

3 shall include— 

4 (1) the number of vessels penalized under this 

5 Act; 

6 (2) the penalties collected under this Act; and 

7 (3) the status of PRC entity compliance with 

8 the standards required. 

9 (h) DELAY OF IMPOSITION.—If the President deter10 mines it is in the national interest of the United States, 

11 the President may delay the imposition of the prohibitions 

12 under this Act for a period not to exceed 180 days fol13 lowing the date of implementation as required in sub14 section (a). 

15 (i) WAIVER.—The Attorney General may waive civil 

16 penalties under this section for any entity that voluntarily 

17 discloses violations and cooperates with law enforcement 

18 or demonstrates good faith efforts to comply with the 

19 standards required under subsection (a). 

20 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) PRC ENTITY.—The term ‘‘PRC Entity’’ 

22 means any foreign person that is— 

23 (A) domiciled in, headquartered in, has its 

24 principal place of business in, or is organized 


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1 under the laws of the People’s Republic of 

2 China; 

3 (B) an entity with respect to which foreign 

4 person or combination of foreign persons de5 scribed in subparagraph (A) directly or indi6 rectly own at least 20 percent stake; or 

7 (C) a person subject to the direction or 

8 control of a foreign person or entity described 

9 in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

10 (2) FENTANYL PRECURSOR OR OTHER CHEMI11 CALS.—The term ‘‘fentanyl precursor or other 

12 chemicals’’ means fentanyl precursors or other 

13 chemicals used or intended for use in the production 

14 of synthetic opioids. 

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL PENALTIES. 

16 (a) GRANT OF AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General 

17 is authorized to impose and collect civil penalties as de18 scribed in this Act for the purposes of enforcing compli19 ance with the standards established under subsection (a) 

20 of section 2 and preventing the trafficking of fentanyl, 

21 fentanyl precursors, and other chemicals used or intended 

22 for use in the production of synthetic opioids. 

23 (b) ENFORCEMENT AND APPEALS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

2 have the authority to determine non-compliance and 

3 impose civil penalties pursuant to this Act. 

4 (2) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any entity subject to a 

5 civil penalty under this section may seek judicial re6 view of such penalty in a United States district 

7 court within 60 days of receiving written notice of 

8 the penalty. 

9 (c) RULEMAKING.—The Attorney General may pro10 mulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to im11 plement this section, including procedures for imposing 

12 penalties and adjudicating appeals. 

Æ 


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