Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws
Signed: March 31, 2017
Published: April 5, 2017
Document Number: 2017-06967
📋Summary
This executive order directs federal agencies to strengthen how the U.S. collects unpaid antidumping and countervailing duties and to crack down on trade and customs law violations. It mainly affects importers whose goods are subject to these duties—especially new importers or those with a history of late or unpaid duty payments—and it guides how Customs and Border Protection (CBP), prosecutors, and other agencies prioritize enforcement. It requires the Department of Homeland Security, working with Treasury, Commerce, and the U.S. Trade Representative, to develop a plan to use risk-based bonding and other legal tools so higher-risk importers provide financial security to cover potential duty bills. It also orders CBP to implement a broader enforcement strategy against illegal imports (including handling inadmissible goods) and to improve information sharing with intellectual property rights holders to help identify counterfeit or infringing goods. Finally, it instructs the Justice Department to prioritize and resource prosecutions for major trade-law offenses.
💼Business Impact
This executive order most affects importers (especially first-time or thinly capitalized importers), customs brokers, and U.S. manufacturers/wholesalers that source products subject to antidumping/countervailing duties (common in steel/aluminum, chemicals, solar, paper, and other “trade-remedy” categories), by increasing the likelihood of higher bonding requirements, cargo holds, audits, and enforcement actions. Businesses should expect tighter compliance expectations around accurate classification, country-of-origin, valuation, and AD/CVD case identification—plus faster escalation to penalties/prosecution for evasion—while U.S. domestic producers and IP rights holders may see opportunities from stronger enforcement against unfairly priced imports and counterfeit goods. Immediate actions: map your SKUs to any AD/CVD orders, stress-test cash flow for potential bond increases and duty bills, tighten supplier documentation (origin/production records) and broker instructions, and set up an internal rapid-response process for CBP inquiries/detentions (including IP enforcement and voluntary abandonment disclosures).
Full Text
Executive Order 13785 of March 31, 2017
Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to promote the efficient and effective administration of United States trade laws, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Importers that unlawfully evade antidumping and countervailing duties expose United States employers to unfair competition and deprive the Federal Government of lawful revenue. As of May 2015, $2.3 billion in antidumping and countervailing duties owed to the Government remained uncollected, often from importers that lack assets located in the United States. It is therefore the policy of the United States to impose appropriate bonding requirements, based on risk assessments, on entries of articles subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, when necessary to protect the revenue of the United States.
Sec. 2 . Definitions. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term “importer” has the meaning given in section 4321 of title 19, United States Code; and
(b) the term “covered importer” means any importer of articles subject to antidumping or countervailing duties for which one of the following is true: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has no record of previous imports by the importer; CBP has a record of the importer's failure to fully pay antidumping or countervailing duties; or CBP has a record of the importer's failure to pay antidumping or countervailing duties in a timely manner.
Sec. 3 . Implementation Plan Development. Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, develop a plan that would require covered importers that, based on a risk assessment conducted by CBP, pose a risk to the revenue of the United States, to provide security for antidumping and countervailing duty liability through bonds and other legal measures, and also would identify other appropriate enforcement measures. This plan shall be consistent with the requirements of section 4321 and section 1623 of title 19, United States Code, and corresponding regulations.
Sec. 4 . Trade and Suspected Customs Law Violations Enforcement. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Commissioner of CBP, shall develop and implement a strategy and plan for combating violations of United States trade and customs laws for goods and for enabling interdiction and disposal, including through methods other than seizure, of inadmissible merchandise entering through any mode of transportation, to the extent authorized by law.
(b) To ensure the timely and efficient enforcement of laws protecting Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) holders from the importation of counterfeit goods, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all appropriate steps, including rulemaking if necessary, to ensure that CBP can, consistent with law, share with rights holders: ( printed page 16720)
(i) any information necessary to determine whether there has been an IPR infringement or violation; and
(ii) any information regarding merchandise voluntarily abandoned, as defined in section 127.12 of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, before seizure, if the Commissioner of CBP reasonably believes that the successful importation of the merchandise would have violated United States trade laws.
Sec. 5 . Priority Enforcement. The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall develop recommended prosecution practices and allocate appropriate resources to ensure that Federal prosecutors accord a high priority to prosecuting significant offenses related to violations of trade laws.
Sec. 6 . General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 31, 2017.