I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3558 

To provide the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border 

Protection, and the Department of the Treasury with authority to more 

aggressively enforce customs and trade laws relating to textile and apparel articles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 

Mr. GRAVES of Georgia (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. COBLE, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. MICHAUD, Mrs. 

ELLMERS, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. RANGEL, 

Mr. JONES, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. PITTENGER, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. 

HOLDING, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. WILSON of 

South Carolina, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, and Ms. FOXX) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of 

the Treasury with authority to more aggressively enforce 

customs and trade laws relating to textile and apparel 

articles, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Textile Enforcement and Security Act of 2013’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Textile or apparel article defined. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Findings. 

Sec. 5. Sense of Congress. 

TITLE I—ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND 

BORDER PROTECTION 

Sec. 101. Seizure and forfeiture of certain textile or apparel articles and use 

of amounts from fines, penalties, and forfeitures. 

Sec. 102. Increase in certain TTA positions and import specialist positions and 

biennial review of staff levels. 

TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930 

Sec. 201. Special provisions regarding certain violations relating to import documentation. 

Sec. 202. Electronic preference verification system for origin of textile or apparel articles under CAFTA–DR, NAFTA, and other free 

trade agreements. 

Sec. 203. Establishment of textile and apparel new importer program. 

Sec. 204. Nonresident importer declaration program for textile or apparel articles. 

TITLE III—ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL 

MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLIER REGISTRY 

Sec. 301. Establishment of textile and apparel manufacturing and supplier registry. 

TITLE IV—IMPLEMENTATION REPORT 

Sec. 401. Implementation report. 

6 SEC. 2. TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLE DEFINED. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘textile or 

8 apparel article’’ means any of the following: 

9 (1) Any good classifiable in chapters 50 

10 through 63 of the HTS. 


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1 (2) Any good classifiable under one of the fol2 lowing HTS headings or subheadings: 

3 (A) 3005.90. 

4 (B) 3921.12.15. 

5 (C) 3921.13.15. 

6 (D) 3921.90.11. 

7 (E) 3921.90.15. 

8 (F) 3921.90.19. 

9 (G) 3921.90.25. 

10 (H) 3921.90.29. 

11 (I) 3921.90.40. 

12 (J) 6601. 

13 (K) 7019.19.15. 

14 (L) 7019.19.28. 

15 (M) 7019.40 through 7019.59. 

16 (N) 8708.21.00. 

17 (O) 9404.30. 

18 (P) 9404.90. 

19 (b) HTS DEFINED.—In subsection (a), the term 

20 ‘‘HTS’’ means the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

21 United States. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) CAFTA–DR COUNTRY.—The term 

25 ‘‘CAFTA–DR country’’ has the meaning given such 


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1 term in section 3(2) of the Dominican Republic-Cen2 tral America-United States-Free Trade Agreement 

3 Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4002(2)). 

4 (2) CEE.—The term ‘‘CEE’’ means the Center 

5 of Excellence and Expertise for Apparel, Footwear, 

6 and Textiles of U.S. Customs and Border Protec7 tion. 

8 (3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis9 sioner’’ means the Commissioner responsible for 

10 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

11 (4) DEDICATED.—The term ‘‘dedicated’’ 

12 means, with respect to an import specialist, that 

13 such import specialist focuses solely on the import of 

14 textile or apparel articles. 

15 (5) ENTER; ENTRY.—The terms ‘‘enter’’ and 

16 ‘‘entry’’ refer to the entry, or withdrawal from ware17 house for consumption, of a textile or apparel article 

18 in the customs territory of the United States. 

19 (6) IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘importer’’ means 

20 one of the parties qualifying as an importer of 

21 record under section 484(a)(2)(B) of the Tariff Act 

22 of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1484(a)(2)(B)). 

23 (7) NEW IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘new im24 porter’’ means an importer with fewer than 3 years 

25 of history of importing textile or apparel articles into 


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1 the United States. For purposes of this paragraph, 

2 a new importer that merges with or is purchased by 

3 another importer, or is otherwise altered, shall be 

4 considered to remain a new importer until such time 

5 as such new importer presents proof to the Commis6 sioner of such merger, purchase, or other alteration 

7 for a determination regarding whether such new im8 porter may be treated as an importer. 

9 (8) NONRESIDENT IMPORTER.—The term ‘‘non10 resident importer’’ means an importer who is— 

11 (A) an individual who is not a citizen of 

12 the United States or an alien lawfully admitted 

13 for permanent residence in the United States; 

14 or 

15 (B) a partnership, corporation, or other 

16 commercial entity that is not organized under 

17 the laws of a jurisdiction within the customs 

18 territory of the United States (as such term is 

19 defined in General Note 2 of the Harmonized 

20 Tariff Schedule of the United States) or in the 

21 Virgin Islands of the United States. 

22 (9) SPECIAL OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘special 

23 operations’’ means an initiative that is— 

24 (A) implemented to address specific in25 stances of transactions that do not comply with 


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1 the customs and trade laws of the United 

2 States with respect to textile or apparel articles; 

3 (B) used to address any import violations 

4 involving textile or apparel articles, including 

5 fraud, quota requirements, revenue collection, 

6 trade preferences or requirements under free 

7 trade agreements, product safety, antidumping 

8 and countervailing duties, or intellectual prop9 erty rights; or 

10 (C) initiated to address a singular instance 

11 or a pattern of high-risk behavior, involving a 

12 particular commodity or other trade issue, in13 cluding valuation, origin fraud, or trade pref14 erence violation, on the part of a country, im15 porter, shipper, exporter, customs broker, 

16 freight forwarder, or manufacturer. 

17 (10) TTA.—The term ‘‘TTA’’ means the Tex18 tile and Trade Agreements division of the Office of 

19 International Trade within U.S. Customs and Bor20 der Protection. 

21 (11) TPVTS.—The term ‘‘TPVTs’’ means Tex22 tile Product Verification Teams. 

23 (12) TRAINED.—The term ‘‘trained’’ means, 

24 with respect to an import specialist, that such im25 port specialist has received, at least during the last 


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1 3 years, education or training related to the import 

2 of textile or apparel articles. 

3 SEC. 4. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The fraudulent or illegal imports of textile 

6 and apparel articles into the United States results in 

7 significant revenue loss to the Department of the 

8 Treasury. 

9 (2) The Textile and Trade Agreements division 

10 of the Office of International Trade within U.S. 

11 Customs and Border Protection or any subsequent 

12 division has, with respect to textile or apparel arti13 cles, the primary responsibility to ensure the proper 

14 enforcement of all customs and trade laws, rules, 

15 and regulations affecting textile and apparel articles. 

16 (3) The TTA has the authority to direct the im17 plementation and enforcement of free trade agree18 ments, multilateral agreements, bilateral textile 

19 agreements, trade preference programs, and all 

20 other customs and trade laws affecting textiles and 

21 apparel articles. 

22 (4) The primary focus of the TTA is to ensure 

23 the effective implementation of all trade enforcement 

24 activities involving textile or apparel articles with its 

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1 quirements to obtain preferential trade treatment 

2 under free trade agreements and trade preference 

3 programs in order to avoid quotas or duties. 

4 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 

7 the TTA should be involved in supporting the nego8 tiation of enforcement provisions of trade preference 

9 programs and free trade agreements affecting tex10 tiles and apparel articles; 

11 (2) the TTA should conduct outreach to other 

12 Federal departments and agencies involved in overall 

13 trade policy, such as Department of Commerce and 

14 the Office of the United States Trade Representa15 tive; 

16 (3) the TTA should develop policies and proce17 dures that provide guidance to the CEE and to the 

18 ports of entry of the textile and apparel articles, in19 cluding training of officials of U.S. Customs and 

20 Border Protection; 

21 (4) officials of the TTA should coordinate and 

22 collaborate with officials of the CEE to establish en23 forcement priorities, based on risk assessments, and 

24 a national enforcement response; 


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1 (5) the TTA headquarters office is currently 

2 below its optimal staffing levels and the TTA per3 sonnel efforts should be targeted at retaining senior 

4 staff and hiring new qualified personnel so that the 

5 division is brought up to optimal staffing levels, and 

6 these positions should be designated as not only pol7 icy positions, but enforcement positions as well; 

8 (6) the TTA should implement special oper9 ations, Textile Product Verification Teams, and 

10 other actions under U.S. Customs and Border Pro11 tection authority to ensure enforcement of customs 

12 and trade laws relating to imports of textile or ap13 parel articles in a timely manner as concerns arise, 

14 particularly as such concerns relate to enforcement 

15 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the 

16 Dominican Republic-Central America-United States 

17 Free Trade Agreement, and all other free trade 

18 agreements and trade preference programs, in order 

19 to prevent transshipments and origin fraud; 

20 (7) the TTA officials should coordinate and col21 laborate with foreign government counterparts to en22 sure effective enforcement of textile and apparel ar23 ticles; and 

24 (8) U.S. Customs and Border Protection should 

25 ensure that seizures, detentions, special operations, 


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1 and TPVTs remain the primary focus of its enforce2 ment efforts relating to textile and apparel articles. 

3 TITLE I—ADDITIONAL AUTHORI4 TIES FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND 

5 BORDER PROTECTION 

6 SEC. 101. SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF CERTAIN TEXTILE 

7 OR APPAREL ARTICLES AND USE OF 

8 AMOUNTS FROM FINES, PENALTIES, AND 

9 FORFEITURES. 

10 (a) SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The following textile or ap12 parel articles shall be subject to seizure and for13 feiture in accordance with the customs and trade 

14 laws of the United States and title 18, United States 

15 Code: 

16 (A) Any textile or apparel article imported 

17 into the United States— 

18 (i) for which a trade preference has 

19 been claimed; and 

20 (ii) that has been either misdescribed 

21 on entry as to country of origin or for 

22 which the importer does not verify actual 

23 country of origin, for purposes of avoiding 

24 a duty or other obligation to the United 

25 States Government, including— 


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1 (I) any textile or apparel article 

2 accompanied by documentation that 

3 indicates a false or fraudulent country 

4 of origin or source of textile or ap5 parel articles; and 

6 (II) any textile or apparel article 

7 accompanied by a counterfeit visa, li8 cense, permit, bill of lading, or similar 

9 documentation that is subsequently 

10 used by the importer for entry of tex11 tile or apparel articles. 

12 (B) A textile or apparel article imported 

13 into the United States by an importer who pro14 vides false information with respect to the phys15 ical address of the importer or who does not 

16 meet the requirements of section 484(a)(2)(B) 

17 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

18 1484(a)(2)(B)). 

19 (2) EXCEPTION.—A clerical error shall not be 

20 considered a violation of paragraph (1) unless such 

21 error is part of a pattern of negligent conduct. 

22 (b) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM FINES, PENALTIES, 

23 AND FORFEITURES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

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1 rity, the Commissioner, or the Secretary of the 

2 Treasury— 

3 (A) shall use amounts from fines, pen4 alties, and forfeitures of property for violations 

5 of any law regarding the import of textile or ap6 parel articles enforced by the Secretary of 

7 Homeland Security or the Secretary of the 

8 Treasury to pay for— 

9 (i) expenses directly related to special 

10 operations, TPVTs, and other enforcement 

11 actions; 

12 (ii) expenses related to training and 

13 education for applicable revenue positions, 

14 including import specialists, international 

15 trade specialists, and auditors who partici16 pate in the enforcement of the customs 

17 and trade laws of the United States with 

18 respect to the export or import of textile or 

19 apparel articles; and 

20 (iii) implementation of the provisions 

21 of this Act; and 

22 (B) may use amounts from fines, penalties, 

23 and forfeitures of property for violations of any 

24 law regarding the import of textile or apparel 

25 articles enforced by the Secretary of Homeland 


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1 Security, the Commissioner, or the Secretary of 

2 the Treasury to pay for a reward of not less 

3 than 20 percent of the amount of the fine or 

4 penalty collected, or the value of the property 

5 forfeited, or $20,000, whichever is the lesser 

6 amount, to any person who furnishes informa7 tion that leads to an arrest, conviction, civil 

8 penalty assessment, or forfeiture of property for 

9 any violation of any law regarding the import of 

10 textile or apparel articles enforced by the Sec11 retary of Homeland Security, the Commis12 sioner, or the Secretary of the Treasury. 

13 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Amounts de14 scribed in paragraph (1) and used to pay for ex15 penses described in subparagraph (A) of that para16 graph or a reward described in subparagraph (B) of 

17 that paragraph are in addition to amounts otherwise 

18 available for such purposes. 

19 SEC. 102. INCREASE IN CERTAIN TTA POSITIONS AND IM20 PORT SPECIALIST POSITIONS AND BIENNIAL 

21 REVIEW OF STAFF LEVELS. 

22 (a) INCREASE IN CERTAIN TTA POSITIONS.—Not 

23 later than 180 days of the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Commissioner shall ensure that— 


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1 (1) the Textile Enforcement Branch (or any 

2 successor or related branch) of the TTA shall con3 sist of, at a minimum, one branch chief and 6 oper4 ations staff, of whom 3 operations staff shall be as5 signed to one of the CAFTA–DR countries for pur6 poses of assisting U.S. Customs and Border Protec7 tion with verification of textile and apparel pref8 erences claimed under the Dominican Republic-Cen9 tral America-United States Free Trade Agreement; 

10 (2) the Textile Policy Branch (or any successor 

11 or related division) of the TTA shall consist of, at 

12 a minimum, one division chief and 3 operations 

13 staff, and 2 textile trade analysts; and 

14 (3) the Quota Branch (or any successor or re15 lated branch of the Interagency Collaboration Divi16 sion) of the TTA shall consist of, at a minimum, one 

17 branch chief and 4 operations staff. 

18 (b) INCREASE IN TEXTILE AND APPAREL TRAINED

19 IMPORT SPECIALISTS.—As soon as practicable after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall 

21 certify, with respect to the 15 largest (by value of entries) 

22 United States ports of entry for textile or apparel articles, 

23 that import specialists who are assigned to such ports of 

24 entry are trained in fraud, trade preference verification, 

25 classification, undervaluation, or other issues relating to 


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1 imports of textile or apparel articles so that the number 

2 of such trained import specialist positions is not less than 

3 150 percent of the number of trained import specialist po4 sitions as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 (c) INCREASE IN DEDICATED TEXTILE AND AP6 PAREL IMPORT SPECIALISTS.—As soon as practicable 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis8 sioner shall increase dedicated textile and import special9 ists by 25 percent at the 15 largest (by value of entries) 

10 United States ports of entry for textile or apparel articles 

11 over the number of such specialists as of the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act. 

13 (d) BIENNIAL REVIEW OF STAFF LEVELS.—Not 

14 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Commissioner shall 

16 submit to the Committee on Ways and Means and the 

17 Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Rep18 resentatives, the Committee on Finance and the Com19 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

20 of the Senate, and the co-chairs of the Congressional Tex21 tile Caucus a report on the staffing levels specified in this 

22 section, including a determination of whether or not there 

23 is need for additional staff to carry out the duties of the 

24 TTA. 


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1 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

2 TARIFF ACT OF 1930 

3 SEC. 201. SPECIAL PROVISIONS REGARDING CERTAIN VIO4 LATIONS RELATING TO IMPORT DOCUMENTA5 TION. 

6 (a) PUBLICATION OF NAMES OF CERTAIN VIOLA7 TORS.—Section 592A(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

8 U.S.C. 1592a(a)(1)) is amended— 

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

10 by striking ‘‘is authorized to’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting before the 

13 comma at the end the following: ‘‘, including for vio14 lations of quotas, duties, or trade preference pro15 grams’’. 

16 (b) LIST OF HIGH-RISK COUNTRIES.—Section 

17 592A(b)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

18 1592a(b)(1)) is amended, in the first sentence— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘is authorized to’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘shall’’; and 

21 (2) by inserting ‘‘or duties or violate trade pref22 erence programs’’ after ‘‘quotas’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. ELECTRONIC PREFERENCE VERIFICATION SYS2 TEM FOR ORIGIN OF TEXTILE OR APPAREL 

3 ARTICLES UNDER CAFTA–DR, NAFTA, AND 

4 OTHER FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, act7 ing through the Commissioner and in coordination with 

8 the head of the Office of Textiles and Apparel of the De9 partment of Commerce, shall establish an electronic 

10 verification system for tracking textile or apparel articles 

11 imported or exported under the Dominican Republic-Cen12 tral America-United States Free Trade Agreement, the 

13 North American Free Trade Agreement, or any other free 

14 trade agreement to which the United States is a party, 

15 to ensure compliance with the respective requirements of 

16 such agreements. 

17 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President shall seek to 

18 enter into consultations and agreements, as appropriate, 

19 with the government of each foreign country that is a 

20 party to an agreement referred to in subsection (a) for 

21 purposes of implementing the electronic verification sys22 tem established under that subsection. 

23 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The electronic verification 

24 system established under subsection (a) shall ensure that 

25 proprietary information, such as information about supply 

26 chain participants, is coded so that only U.S. Customs and 


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1 Border Protection and Office of Textiles and Apparel per2 sonnel can access the information. 

3 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that the President should seek to make the integra5 tion of the electronic verification system established under 

6 subsection (a) in future free trade agreements a priority 

7 in negotiations for such agreements. 

8 SEC. 203. ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL NEW 

9 IMPORTER PROGRAM. 

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

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall 

12 establish a new importer program that directs U.S. Cus13 toms and Border Protection to adjust bond amounts for 

14 new importers of textile and apparel articles based on the 

15 level of risk with respect to protection of the revenue of 

16 the Federal Government presented by each new importer. 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commissioner shall en18 sure that, as part of the new importer program established 

19 under subsection (a), U.S. Customs and Border Protec20 tion— 

21 (1) develops risk assessment guidelines for new 

22 importers of textile and apparel articles; 

23 (2) adjusts bond amounts for new importers in 

24 accordance with the risk assessment guidelines de25 veloped under paragraph (1); 


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1 (3) maintains a centralized database of new im2 porters; and 

3 (4) ensures accuracy of required information 

4 provided to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by 

5 new importers. 

6 (c) BONDING AUTHORITY.—Section 623(b) of the 

7 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1623(b)) is amended by 

8 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(5) In the case of importation of textile or ap10 parel articles, by regulation or specific instruction 

11 require, or authorize U.S. Customs and Border Pro12 tection officers to require, the amount of the bond 

13 to include amounts equal to any duties, fees, or pen14 alties estimated to be payable on such articles. For 

15 purposes of this paragraph, amounts equal to any 

16 penalties estimated to be payable on such articles 

17 shall be based on a risk assessment of the new im18 porter carried out in accordance with section 203 of 

19 the Textile Security and Enforcement Act of 2013. 

20 Any person who violates a requirement imposed pur21 suant to this paragraph shall be liable for a civil 

22 penalty of $50,000 for each such violation.’’. 

23 (d) OTHER PENALTIES.—In addition to the penalties 

24 specified in paragraph (5) of section 623(b) of the Tariff 

25 Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1623(b)), as added by subsection 


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1 (c) of this section, for a violation of such paragraph, any 

2 person who violates any other customs or trade law of the 

3 United States with respect to the importation of textile 

4 or apparel articles shall be subject to any applicable civil 

5 or criminal penalty, including seizure and forfeiture that 

6 may be imposed under such customs or trade law, includ7 ing section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 

8 1592). 

9 SEC. 204. NONRESIDENT IMPORTER DECLARATION PRO10 GRAM FOR TEXTILE OR APPAREL ARTICLES. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 

12 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Commissioner shall establish and maintain a nonresident 

14 importer declaration program with respect to the importa15 tion of textile or apparel articles. The program shall re16 quire nonresident importers of textile or apparel articles 

17 to provide the information required under subsection (b) 

18 and declare the information required under subsection (c), 

19 and require that such information accompany the entry 

20 summary documentation for such textile or apparel arti21 cles. 

22 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The Commissioner 

23 shall require the following information to be submitted by 

24 any nonresident importer seeking to import textile or ap25 parel articles: 


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1 (1) An identification of a resident agent in the 

2 State in which the port of entry is located who is au3 thorized to accept service of process against the non4 resident importer in connection with the importation 

5 of the textile or apparel articles. 

6 (2) A certification that the resident agent de7 scribed in paragraph (1) has assets in the United 

8 States in sufficient amounts for the purpose of en9 suring the payment of any additional loss of revenue 

10 not covered by any surety bond or for any civil pen11 alties levied by the Federal Government in connec12 tion with the importation of the textile or apparel 

13 articles. 

14 (3) A copy of the commercial invoice accom15 panying the shipment of the textile or apparel arti16 cles, including the name, address, and contact infor17 mation for each person in the transaction, such as 

18 the trading house, the freight forwarder, and the ul19 timate purchaser of the goods. 

20 (c) DECLARATIONS REQUIRED.—Pursuant to proce21 dures prescribed by the Commissioner, any nonresident 

22 importer seeking to import textile or apparel articles shall 

23 declare the following: 

24 (1) The nonresident importer has secured a 

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1 tile or apparel articles as required by paragraph (5) 

2 of section 623(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

3 U.S.C. 1623(b)) (as added by section 203(c) of this 

4 Act). 

5 (2) The nonresident importer has established a 

6 power of attorney in connection with the importation 

7 of the textile or apparel articles. 

8 (d) AUTHORITY.—A resident agent under this section 

9 shall accept service of process on behalf of the nonresident 

10 importer of such agent for the purpose of duties, penalties, 

11 or other fines issued by the Secretary of Homeland Secu12 rity or the Commissioner if the Secretary or the Commis13 sioner is unable to collect duties, penalties, or other fines 

14 from such nonresident importer. 

15 (e) PENALTIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

17 person to import into the United States any textile 

18 or apparel article in violation of this section. 

19 (2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any person who vio20 lates paragraph (1) shall be liable for a civil penalty 

21 of $50,000 for each such violation. 

22 (3) OTHER PENALTIES.—In addition to the 

23 penalties specified in paragraph (2), any violation of 

24 this section that violates any other customs or trade 

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1 plicable civil and criminal penalty, including seizure 

2 and forfeiture, that may be imposed under such cus3 toms or trade law or title 18, United States Code, 

4 with respect to the importation of textile or apparel 

5 articles. 

6 TITLE III—ESTABLISHMENT OF 

7 TEXTILE AND APPAREL MAN8 UFACTURING AND SUPPLIER 

9 REGISTRY 

10 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF TEXTILE AND APPAREL MAN11 UFACTURING AND SUPPLIER REGISTRY. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the President, acting through the Com14 missioner and in coordination with the head of the Office 

15 of Textiles and Apparel of the Department of Commerce, 

16 shall establish an electronic Textile and Apparel Manufac17 turing Supplier Registry pilot program to serve as a cen18 tralized database of United States producers and manu19 facturers of thread, yarn, fabric, and apparel that supply 

20 products to companies in the United States, countries that 

21 are parties to the North American Free Trade Agreement, 

22 the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States 

23 Free Trade Agreement, and other free trade agreements 

24 or eligible for preference programs for countries in the 

25 Western Hemisphere. 


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24 

•HR 3558 IH

1 TITLE IV—IMPLEMENTATION 

2 REPORT 

3 SEC. 401. IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. 

4 Not later than one year after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Commissioner shall submit to the 

6 Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on 

7 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, the 

8 Committee on Finance and the Committee on Homeland 

9 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the 

10 co-chairs of the Congressional Textile Caucus a report on 

11 the implementation of this Act. 

Æ 


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