II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5435 

To prohibit certain entities from entering articles under the administrative 

exemption from duties for de minimis entries of articles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2024 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To prohibit certain entities from entering articles under the 

administrative exemption from duties for de minimis entries of articles. 

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 ‘‘Detection and Exclu5 sion of Negligent, Illicit, and Extralegal Deliveries Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘DENIED Act’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 5435 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ENTITIES ENTERING AR2 TICLES BENEFITTING FROM DE MINIMIS AD3 MINISTRATIVE EXEMPTION. 

4 Section 321 of Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN EN7 TITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of U.S. 

9 Customs and Border Protection may not admit an 

10 article free of duty or tax under subsection (a)(2)(C) 

11 if a covered entity is listed on the manifest or ship12 per declaration of the shipment of the article. 

13 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENT.—Not later 

14 than 270 days after the date of the enactment of the 

15 Detection and Exclusion of Negligent, Illicit, and 

16 Extralegal Deliveries Act, and every 90 days there17 after, the Secretary shall publish a list of covered 

18 entities, which shall include, for each such entity, a 

19 description of the violations of law that justify inclu20 sion on the list. 

21 ‘‘(3) REMOVAL FROM LIST.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of 

23 U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall de24 velop regulations establishing procedures under 

25 which a covered entity included on the list reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Dec 31, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5435.IS S5435

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 5435 IS

1 quired by paragraph (2) may petition for re2 moval from that list. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Under the regula4 tions established under subparagraph (A), a 

5 covered entity may request removal from the 

6 list required by paragraph (2) by filing a peti7 tion pursuant to subparagraph (C) in which the 

8 entity demonstrates that it is no longer engag9 ing in the violations of law that justify inclusion 

10 on the list. 

11 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—Not 

13 earlier than one year after the date on 

14 which a covered entity is included on the 

15 list required by paragraph (2), the covered 

16 entity may file with the Commissioner of 

17 U.S. Customs and Border Protection a pe18 tition described in subparagraph (B). 

19 ‘‘(ii) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—If the Com20 missioner denies the petition filed under 

21 clause (i), the covered entity may seek ju22 dicial review in the United States Court of 

23 International Trade. 

24 ‘‘(D) EFFECT OF REMOVAL.—Upon re25 moval of a covered entity under subparagraph 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 5435 IS

1 (A) from the list required by paragraph (2), 

2 that covered entity is no longer subject to the 

3 prohibition under subsection (a)(2)(C). 

4 ‘‘(4) REFERRAL TO THE FORCED LABOR EN5 FORCEMENT TASK FORCE.—The Commissioner of 

6 U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall refer any 

7 covered entity included on the list required by para8 graph (2) for activity described in paragraph 

9 (6)(C)(ii)(I) to the Forced Labor Enforcement Task 

10 Force for possible inclusion on a list maintained 

11 under clause (i), (ii), (iv), or (v) of section 

12 2(d)(2)(B) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to ensure that 

13 goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Auton14 omous Region of the People’s Republic of China do 

15 not enter the United States market, and for other 

16 purposes’, approved December 23, 2021 (Public Law 

17 117–78; 22 U.S.C. 6901 note) (commonly referred 

18 to as the ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’). 

19 ‘‘(5) PENALTIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person that 

21 violates this subsection or the regulations pre22 scribed under this subsection is liable for a civil 

23 penalty in an amount not to exceed— 

24 ‘‘(i) $1,000 for the first violation; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 5435 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) $5,000 for each subsequent viola2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—A penalty 

4 imposed under this paragraph shall be in addi5 tion to any other penalty provided by law. 

6 ‘‘(6) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the 

8 term ‘covered entity’ means an entity that— 

9 ‘‘(i) is listed on the manifest or ship10 per declaration of a shipment to a common 

11 carrier, foreign postal operator, or freight 

12 forwarder for exportation to the United 

13 States to be entered under subsection 

14 (a)(2)(C); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) has been assessed a penalty de16 scribed in subparagraph (B) on more than 

17 2 occasions in a one-year period. 

18 ‘‘(B) PENALTY DESCRIBED.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A penalty is de20 scribed in this subparagraph if the penalty 

21 is assessed under any of the following and 

22 relates to an article described in clause (ii): 

23 ‘‘(I) section 592(c)(1); 

24 ‘‘(II) section 592(c)(2); 

25 ‘‘(III) section 596(b); or 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 5435 IS

1 ‘‘(IV) section 526(f). 

2 ‘‘(ii) ARTICLES DESCRIBED.—An arti3 cle is described in this clause if the arti4 cle— 

5 ‘‘(I) is produced with forced labor 

6 (as defined in section 307); 

7 ‘‘(II) bears a counterfeit mark 

8 (within the meaning of section 45 of 

9 the Act entitled ‘An Act to provide for 

10 the registration and protection of 

11 trademarks used in commerce, to 

12 carry out the provisions of certain 

13 international conventions, and for 

14 other purposes’, approved July 5, 

15 1946 (commonly known as the 

16 ‘Trademark Act of 1946’ or the 

17 ‘Lanham Act’) (15 U.S.C. 1127)); or 

18 ‘‘(III) is a controlled substance 

19 (as defined in section 102 of the Con20 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

21 802)) that is not imported in accord22 ance with applicable law. 

23 ‘‘(d) DETERMINATION OF APPLICATION OF EXEMP24 TION.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 5435 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of U.S. 

2 Customs and Border Protection shall determine 

3 whether a shipment is eligible to be entered under 

4 subsection (a)(2)(C) based on information provided 

5 by the shipper during the entry process. 

6 ‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY.—The Commissioner may 

7 identify, test, obtain, and deploy any technology nec8 essary to carry out paragraph (1).’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS ON ENHANCED DATA COLLECTION 

10 FOR IDENTIFICATION OF PROHIBITED ARTI11 CLES. 

12 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later 

13 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

14 the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations 

15 requiring the provision of documentation or information 

16 necessary for U.S. Customs and Border Protection to de17 termine whether the articles for which an administrative 

18 exemption from duties under subsection (a)(2)(C) of sec19 tion 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321) is 

20 sought are articles described in subsection (c)(1) of that 

21 section (as added by section 2 of this Act) or are otherwise 

22 prohibited from entering the United States. 

23 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF REGULATIONS.—In devel24 oping the regulations required by subsection (a), the Sec25 retary of the Treasury shall— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 5435 IS

1 (1) ensure the protection of the privacy of pro2 prietary information (within the meaning of section 

3 777(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

4 1677f(b))), except for information shared through 

5 the International Trade Data System established 

6 pursuant to section 411(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930 

7 (19 U.S.C. 1411(d)), with Federal agencies partici8 pating in that system; and 

9 (2) adhere to the parameters described in sub10 paragraphs (A) through (E) and (H) through (J) of 

11 section 343(a)(3) of the Trade Act of 2002 (19 

12 U.S.C. 1415(a)(3)). 

13 (c) INTERNATIONAL MAIL SHIPMENTS.—To the ex14 tent feasible and consistent with international law, the 

15 Postmaster General shall provide to the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury any information, requested by the Secretary in 

17 regulations prescribed under subsection (a), necessary to 

18 determine whether articles in international mail shipments 

19 for which an administrative exemption from duties under 

20 section 321(a)(2)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

21 1321(a)(2)(C)) is sought are articles described in sub22 section (c)(1) of that section (as added by section 2 of 

23 this Act) or are otherwise prohibited from entering the 

24 United States. 

25 (d) CIVIL PENALTY.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 5435 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall impose 

2 a civil penalty on any person that violates the regu3 lations prescribed under subsection (a) of not more 

4 than— 

5 (A) $2,000 for the first violation; and 

6 (B) $5,000 for each subsequent violation. 

7 (2) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—A penalty im8 posed under this subsection may be in addition to 

9 any other penalty authorized by law. 

10 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE 

11 COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1581 of title 28, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(k) The Court of International Trade shall have ex16 clusive jurisdiction of any civil action commenced under 

17 section 321(c)(3) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

18 1321(c)(3)).’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

20 1581(i)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

22 by striking ‘‘subsections (a)–(h) and’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘subsections (a)–(h) and subsection (k) and’’; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 5435 IS

1 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘sub2 sections (a)–(h)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a)–(h) 

3 and subsection (k)’’. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS