Senate CBP Bill Follows In Footsteps of Previous Legislation: Reorganizes Agency, Adds AD/CVD Evasion Language
The CBP reauthorization legislation introduced March 22 by Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, largely follows the path laid by previous CBP bills introduced in the House and Senate, including provisions to reorganize the agency and solidify trade as a key part of its mission. The new legislation is similar to last year’s House bills, Republicans’ HR-6642 and Democrats’ HR-6656, and the 2009 CBP reauthorization bill introduced by Baucus and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, which never made it out of committee (here).
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The new Baucus and Hatch bill -- titled the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2013 -- keeps the CBP commissioner as a Presidential nominee, with responsibilities ranging from coordinating the security and trade functions of CBP to “ensuring that overall economic security is not diminished by activities to secure the homeland.” The bill also:
- Names one of CBP’s Deputy Commissioners the Deputy Commissioner for Trade, who will oversee the Office of Trade and the Office of International Affairs, which the bill also establishes.
- Creates the commissioner-appointed position of Trade Advocate to serve as liaison between the agency and the private sector.
- Creates a Director of Trade Policy within the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Policy and Planning. The director will coordinate with the commissioner and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director to ensure economic interests are part of Department policy.
- Requires CBP to lead a Customs Facilitation and Enforcement Interagency Committee, to collaborate with other federal agencies on trade facilitation and enforcement. The heads of CBP and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency are also required to craft a biennial joint strategic plan on the topic.
As in previous bills, the new legislation includes creation of an importer of record program within 180 days of passage of the bill, and requires the commissioner and private sector to develop and implement Centers for Excellence and Expertise. The bill also raises the de minimis level to $800, a change widely praised by industry stakeholders. It does not include a non-resident importer requirement, which stakeholders roundly opposed (see 13030603).
The bill uses enforcement language from the 2011 Enforcing Orders and Reducing Customs Evasion Act, which passed the Finance Committee in 2012. It's the same antidumping and countervailing duty language in HR-6656: the only difference between the two House bills. Industry groups recently urged House leaders to remove it in the interest of moving the rest of the bill forward (see 13032501). The AD/CVD provisions in the Baucus-Hatch bill include:
- The commissioner must start an investigation within 10 business days of an allegation that reasonably suggests merchandise is entering U.S. through evasion. The commissioner may consolidate multiple allegations.
- If the commissioner determines there is “reasonable suspicion” the allegation is true -- which must be done within 90 days from the start of an investigation -- the commissioner can suspend the liquidation of any unliquidated entries of the items, and extend the liquidation period to before the start of the investigation.
- The commissioner has 270 days from the date of an investigation to determine whether there is substantial evidence of evasion.
- Importers and producers have 30 days to request de novo administrative review by the commissioner after they are notified about an evasion determination.
(See 13032522 for the bill’s announcement. See future ITT issues for more information about the bill’s components.