II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 805 

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to increase civil penalties for, and improve 

enforcement with respect to, customs fraud, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2023 

Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to increase civil penalties 

for, and improve enforcement with respect to, customs 

fraud, 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 ‘‘Fighting Trade Cheats 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN CIVIL PENALTIES FOR FRAUDULENT 

7 AND GROSSLY NEGLIGENT VIOLATIONS OF 

8 UNITED STATES CUSTOMS LAWS. 

9 Section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

10 1592) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

3 paragraph (3); and 

4 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(2) PRESUMPTION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para8 graph (1)(B), if a person purchases merchan9 dise from two or more affiliated persons after 

10 such persons are determined by U.S. Customs 

11 and Border Protection or a court of competent 

12 jurisdiction to have violated subsection (a) by 

13 means of fraud or gross negligence, there shall 

14 be a presumption that the purchaser had knowl15 edge of such violation with respect to purchases 

16 from the second or subsequent such affiliated 

17 person. 

18 ‘‘(B) AFFILIATED PERSON DEFINED.—In 

19 subparagraph (A), the term ‘affiliated person’ 

20 has the meaning given that term in section 

21 771(33).’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (c)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘A fraudulent viola25 tion’’ and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A fraudulent viola2 tion’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (A) (as so des4 ignated), by inserting before ‘‘the domestic 

5 value’’ the following: ‘‘three times’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—A per9 son— 

10 ‘‘(i) that commits a fraudulent viola11 tion of subsection (a) shall be prohibited 

12 from importing merchandise into the 

13 United States during a period of five years 

14 beginning on the date of entry of a final 

15 judgment with respect to such violation; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(ii) that is an affiliated person of a 

18 person described in clause (i) shall be pro19 hibited from importing merchandise into 

20 the United States during the period de21 scribed in such clause. 

22 ‘‘(C) AFFILIATED PERSON DEFINED.—In 

23 subparagraph (B)(ii), the term ‘affiliated per24 son’ has the meaning given that term in section 

25 771(33).’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘A grossly negligent 

3 violation’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grossly negligent 

5 violation’’; 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘(A) the lesser of—’’ 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) the lesser of—’’; 

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘(i) the domestic 

10 value’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(I) three times the domestic 

12 value’’; 

13 (iv) by striking ‘‘(ii) four times’’ and 

14 inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(II) 10 times’’; 

16 (v) by striking ‘‘(B) if the violation’’ 

17 and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(ii) if the violation’’; 

19 (vi) in clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) 

20 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘40 per21 cent of’’ and inserting ‘‘three times’’; and 

22 (vii) by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—A per25 son— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that commits a grossly negligent 

2 violation of subsection (a) shall be prohib3 ited from importing merchandise into the 

4 United States during a period of two years 

5 beginning on the date of entry of a final 

6 judgment with respect to such violation; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) that is an affiliated person of a 

9 person described in clause (i) shall be pro10 hibited from importing merchandise into 

11 the United States during the period de12 scribed in such clause. 

13 ‘‘(C) AFFILIATED PERSON DEFINED.—In 

14 subparagraph (B)(ii), the term ‘affiliated per15 son’ has the meaning given that term in section 

16 771(33).’’. 

17 SEC. 3. PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT ACTION FOR CUSTOMS 

18 FRAUD. 

19 The Tariff Act of 1930 is amended by inserting after 

20 section 592A (19 U.S.C. 1592a) the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 592B. PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT ACTION FOR CUS22 TOMS FRAUD. 

23 ‘‘(a) CIVIL ACTION.—An interested party the busi24 ness, property, or other financial interest of which is in25 jured by a fraudulent or grossly negligent violation of secVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S805.IS S805

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1 tion 592(a) may bring a civil action against any person 

2 that causes such injury, or any person that aids or abets 

3 that person in violating section 592(a), in any United 

4 States District Court located in a district in which the in5 terested party has suffered injury, without regard to the 

6 amount in controversy. 

7 ‘‘(b) RELIEF.—Upon proof by an interested party in 

8 a civil action brought under subsection (a) that the busi9 ness, property, or other financial interest of the interested 

10 party has been injured by a fraudulent or grossly negligent 

11 violation of section 592(a), the interested party shall— 

12 ‘‘(1)(A) recover compensatory damages equal to 

13 the amount of such injury plus an additional penalty 

14 equal to three times the amount of compensatory 

15 damages; and 

16 ‘‘(B) be granted such equitable relief as may be 

17 appropriate, which may include an injunction 

18 against further importation into the United States 

19 of the merchandise imported into the United States 

20 in violation of section 592(a); and 

21 ‘‘(2) recover the costs of bringing the civil ac22 tion, including reasonable attorney’s fees. 

23 ‘‘(c) INTERVENTION BY THE UNITED STATES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court shall permit the 

25 United States to intervene in an civil action brought 


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1 under subsection (a), as a matter of right. The 

2 United States shall have all the rights of a party. 

3 ‘‘(2) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Upon a rea4 sonable request by the United States Government, 

5 any interested party that brings a civil action under 

6 subsection (a) shall provide to the United States 

7 Government— 

8 ‘‘(A) a copy of the complaint; 

9 ‘‘(B) any memoranda of law or briefing 

10 filed with a court in support of the complaint 

11 as of the date of the request; and 

12 ‘‘(C) if the United States Government 

13 agrees to reimburse the interested party for all 

14 reasonable costs and expenses associated with 

15 responding to the request, any information ob16 tained by the interested party through discovery 

17 processes in the civil action as of the date of 

18 the request. 

19 ‘‘(d) NULLIFICATION OF ORDER IN NATIONAL

20 EMERGENCIES.—An order by a court under this section 

21 is subject to nullification by the President under the au22 thority provided by section 203 of the International Emer23 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702). 

24 ‘‘(e) INTERESTED PARTY DEFINED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

2 ‘interested party’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) a manufacturer, producer, or whole4 saler in the United States of like merchandise 

5 or competing merchandise; 

6 ‘‘(B) a certified union or recognized union 

7 or group of workers that is representative of an 

8 industry engaged in the manufacture, produc9 tion, or wholesale in the United States of like 

10 merchandise or competing merchandise; or 

11 ‘‘(C) a trade or business association a ma12 jority of the members of which manufacture, 

13 produce, or wholesale like merchandise or com14 peting merchandise in the United States. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPETING MERCHANDISE.—For pur16 poses of paragraph (1), the term ‘competing mer17 chandise’ means merchandise that competes with or 

18 is a substitute for merchandise being imported into 

19 the United States in violation of section 592(a). 

20 ‘‘(3) LIKE MERCHANDISE.—For purposes of 

21 paragraph (1), the term ‘like merchandise’ means 

22 merchandise that is like, or in the absence of like, 

23 most similar in characteristics and uses with, mer24 chandise being imported into the United States in 

25 violation of section 592(a).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. EXCLUSION OF PERSONS THAT HAVE COMMITTED 

2 FRAUDULENT OR GROSSLY NEGLIGENT VIO3 LATIONS OF UNITED STATES CUSTOMS LAWS 

4 FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE IMPORTER OF 

5 RECORD PROGRAM. 

6 Section 114 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade En7 forcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4320) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

9 subsection (d) and (e), respectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(c) EXCLUSION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following persons shall 

14 be ineligible to participate in the importer of record 

15 program: 

16 ‘‘(A) Any person determined by U.S. Cus17 toms and Border Protection or a court of com18 petent jurisdiction to have committed a fraudu19 lent or grossly negligent violation of section 

20 592(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

21 1592(a)). 

22 ‘‘(B) Any person that is an affiliated per23 son of a person described in subparagraph (A). 

24 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—The Secretary shall revoke 

25 the importer of record number assigned to any per26 son under the importer of record program if the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S805.IS S805

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1 retary subsequently determines that the person is a 

2 person described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) AFFILIATED PERSON DEFINED.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes para6 graph (1)(B), the term ‘affiliated person’ has 

7 the meaning given that term in section 771(33) 

8 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(33)). 

9 ‘‘(B) DEEMED AFFILIATED PERSONS.—In 

10 order to prevent commercial fraud, protect the 

11 revenue, and help prevent the use of shell com12 panies by importers that seek to evade the cus13 toms and trade laws of the United States, a 

14 person may be deemed to be an affiliated per15 son for purposes of paragraph (1)(B) based 

16 upon information declared to U.S. Customs and 

17 Border Protection suggesting a formal or ongo18 ing relationship between that person and a per19 son described in paragraph (1)(A), including 

20 similarities in imported merchandise (including 

21 article classification upon importation), common 

22 declared exporters and shippers, and historical 

23 import volumes.’’. 

Æ 


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