House Passes Select Committee Legislation to Stop China’s Trade Crimes

Today, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation that will target Chinese companies who abuse our nation’s trade laws. The Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act would create a new Department of Justice task force to enforce trade-related crimes committed by Chinese companies including but not limited to tariff and duty evasion, import and export restrictions, trade-based money laundering, smuggling, and other import and export-related crimes. The legislation is led by Select Committee on China (SCC) Chairman John Moolenaar and SCC members Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and others.

"This bipartisan legislation will arm the Department of Justice with the tools to stop trade crimes often perpetrated by China-backed companies. These crimes devastate American manufacturing, and they are a threat to the prosperity of every single American. Thanks to Congresswoman Hinson for her partnership and leadership on this legislation to fight back and protect American workers, and to our colleagues for their support today. Stopping China’s trade crimes and predatory trade practices is essential to the future of our country,” said Moolenaar.

"China has spent decades finding ways to undermine American workers and our economy. My bill will finally give the DOJ real tools to stop these blatant violations and ensure penalties are meaningfully enforced. Today’s bipartisan passage is a huge win for American workers and domestic manufacturing — let’s make it the law of the land ASAP," said Hinson.

What This Bill Does 

• Creates a new task force by hiring criminal trial attorneys and related personnel to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes under the purview of the DOJ's Criminal Division.
• Enables federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to partake in essential training or receive technical assistance to broaden their capacity to investigate and prosecute, and to pursue parallel criminal and civil enforcement actions, against persons in the PRC suspected of trade crime. 
• Mandates an annual report to Congress from the Attorney General evaluating DOJ efforts, trends in the statistics tracking trade crime, and fund utilization.

The legislation is available here.