Increases penalties for customs fraud and lets U.S. businesses sue those who cheat on import rules.
This bill would make it much tougher on businesses and individuals who cheat on customs duties. It would greatly increase fines and ban violators from importing goods for years. It would also let U.S. businesses and worker groups directly sue those who commit customs fraud, allowing them to recover four times their losses (their actual losses plus an additional penalty equal to three times their losses).
Today, penalties for customs fraud are lower, and private businesses cannot directly sue those who cheat. If this bill becomes law, penalties for fraudulent violations would be three times the domestic value of the goods, and for grossly negligent violations, they would be up to three times the domestic value or 10 times the lawful duties. Also, U.S. businesses and worker groups would be able to sue violators directly, recovering four times their losses (their actual losses plus an additional penalty equal to three times their losses), and those who commit fraud or gross negligence would be banned from importing goods and excluded from a key importer program.
HR 1284 · 119th Congress · February 13, 2025 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 9/10
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17 filings mentioned this bill
Amounts reflect total quarterly lobbying spend reported to the Senate, not bill-specific spending. Source: Senate LDA filings.