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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Illegal Transshipments 
Enforcement Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) the textile and apparel sector in the United 
States is being seriously hurt by smuggling and 
transshipment of textile and apparel products from 
abroad; 
(2) tens of thousands of textile and apparel 
workers in the United States have lost their jobs be-
cause of these illegal activities; 
(3) according to industry and government esti-
mates, illegal textile and apparel smuggling and 
transshipment totals billions of dollars each year; 
(4) the People’s Republic of China and other 
major Asian exporters have a decades-long history of 
illegally shipping textile and apparel goods to the 
United States; and 
(5) a new avenue of illegal trade, which involves 
the evasion of duties using countries who are pref-
erential trading partners with the United States, has 
developed and is particularly harmful to the textile 
and apparel industry in the United States. 
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act to increase and broaden 
the scope of certain penalties relating to illegal imports 
and cargo theft so as to enable the Bureau of Customs 
and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland 
Security to effectively deter commercial fraud in the
United States, particularly concerning textile and apparel 
products. 
SEC. 3. SEIZURE AND DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN TEXTILE 
AND APPAREL ARTICLES. 
Part V of title IV of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
U.S.C. 1581 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 632. DESTRUCTION OF FORFEITED TEXTILE AND AP-
PAREL PRODUCTS. 
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the ap-
propriate customs officer may destroy textile or apparel 
products that have been forfeited by reason of a violation 
of the customs laws.’’. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO SEIZE MERCHANDISE IN CERTAIN 
CASES. 
Section 596(c)(2)(F) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
U.S.C. 1595a(c)(2)(F)) is amended by striking ‘‘iden-
tical’’. 
SEC. 5. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS BY CUS-
TOMS BROKERS. 
Section 641(d)(2)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
U.S.C. 1641(d)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$30,000 
in total for a violation or violations of this section’’ and 
inserting ‘‘$100,000 for each violation of this section’’.
SEC. 6. PUNISHMENT OF CARGO THEFT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 659 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘with intent to convert to his 
own use’’ each place it appears; 
(2) in the first undesignated paragraph—
(A) 
by 
inserting 
‘‘trailer,’’ 
after 
‘‘motortruck,’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘air cargo container,’’ 
after ‘‘aircraft,’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘, or from any intermodal 
container, trailer, container freight station, 
warehouse, or freight consolidation facility,’’ 
after ‘‘air navigation facility’’; 
(3) in the fifth undesignated paragraph, by 
striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting ‘‘3 years’’; and 
(4) in the penultimate undesignated paragraph, 
by inserting after the first sentence the following: 
‘‘For purposes of this section, goods and chattel 
shall be construed to be moving as an interstate or 
foreign shipment at all points between the point of 
origin and the final destination (as evidenced by the 
waybill or other shipping document of the shipment), 
regardless of any temporary stop while awaiting 
transshipment or otherwise.’’.
(b) FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES.—Pursuant 
to section 994 of title 28, United States Code, the United 
States Sentencing Commission shall review the Federal 
sentencing guidelines under section 659 of title 18, United 
States Code, as amended by this section, and, upon com-
pletion of the review, promulgate amendments to the Fed-
eral Sentencing Guidelines to provide appropriate en-
hancement of the applicable guidelines.
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