I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3661

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide for the seizure, forfeiture, 

and destruction of textile and apparel articles imported in violation of 

certain laws of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2003

Mr. HAYES 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 amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide for the seizure, 

forfeiture, and destruction of textile and apparel articles 

imported in violation of certain laws of the United 

States, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Illegal Transshipments 

5 Enforcement Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the textile and apparel sector in the United 

2 States is being seriously hurt by smuggling and 

3 transshipment of textile and apparel products from 

4 abroad; 

5 (2) tens of thousands of textile and apparel 

6 workers in the United States have lost their jobs be7 cause of these illegal activities; 

8 (3) according to industry and government esti9 mates, illegal textile and apparel smuggling and 

10 transshipment totals billions of dollars each year; 

11 (4) the People’s Republic of China and other 

12 major Asian exporters have a decades-long history of 

13 illegally shipping textile and apparel goods to the 

14 United States; and 

15 (5) a new avenue of illegal trade, which involves 

16 the evasion of duties using countries who are pref17 erential trading partners with the United States, has 

18 developed and is particularly harmful to the textile 

19 and apparel industry in the United States. 

20 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act and the 

21 amendments made by this Act to increase and broaden 

22 the scope of certain penalties relating to illegal imports 

23 and cargo theft so as to enable the Bureau of Customs 

24 and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland 

25 Security to effectively deter commercial fraud in the 
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1 United States, particularly concerning textile and apparel 

2 products. 

3 SEC. 3. SEIZURE AND DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN TEXTILE 

4 AND APPAREL ARTICLES. 

5 Part V of title IV of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

6 U.S.C. 1581 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 632. DESTRUCTION OF FORFEITED TEXTILE AND AP9 PAREL PRODUCTS. 

10 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the ap11 propriate customs officer may destroy textile or apparel 

12 products that have been forfeited by reason of a violation 

13 of the customs laws.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO SEIZE MERCHANDISE IN CERTAIN 

15 CASES. 

16 Section 596(c)(2)(F) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

17 U.S.C. 1595a(c)(2)(F)) is amended by striking ‘‘iden18 tical’’. 

19 SEC. 5. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS BY CUS20 TOMS BROKERS. 

21 Section 641(d)(2)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

22 U.S.C. 1641(d)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$30,000 

23 in total for a violation or violations of this section’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘$100,000 for each violation of this section’’. 
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1 SEC. 6. PUNISHMENT OF CARGO THEFT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 659 of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘with intent to convert to his 

5 own use’’ each place it appears; 

6 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph—

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘trailer,’’ after 

8 ‘‘motortruck,’’; 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘air cargo container,’’ 

10 after ‘‘aircraft,’’; and 

11 (C) by inserting ‘‘, or from any intermodal 

12 container, trailer, container freight station, 

13 warehouse, or freight consolidation facility,’’ 

14 after ‘‘air navigation facility’’; 

15 (3) in the fifth undesignated paragraph, by 

16 striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting ‘‘3 years’’; and 

17 (4) in the penultimate undesignated paragraph, 

18 by inserting after the first sentence the following: 

19 ‘‘For purposes of this section, goods and chattel 

20 shall be construed to be moving as an interstate or 

21 foreign shipment at all points between the point of 

22 origin and the final destination (as evidenced by the 

23 waybill or other shipping document of the shipment), 

24 regardless of any temporary stop while awaiting 

25 transshipment or otherwise.’’. 
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1 (b) FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES.—Pursuant 

2 to section 994 of title 28, United States Code, the United 

3 States Sentencing Commission shall review the Federal 

4 sentencing guidelines under section 659 of title 18, United 

5 States Code, as amended by this section, and, upon com6 pletion of the review, promulgate amendments to the Fed7 eral Sentencing Guidelines to provide appropriate en8 hancement of the applicable guidelines.

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