19 U.S.C. § 4372 — Collection of information on evasion of

Page 1107 TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES § 4372 between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other relevant Federal agencies regarding evasion; (3) notifying on a timely basis the admin- istering authority (as defined in section 1677(1) of this title) and the Commission (as defined in section 1677(2) of this title) of any finding, determination, civil action, or criminal action taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or other Federal agency regarding evasion; (4) serving as the primary liaison between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the public regarding activities concerning evasion, including activities relating to investigations conducted under section 1517 of this title, which include— (A) receiving allegations of evasion from parties, including allegations described in section 1517(b)(2) of this title; (B) upon request by the party or parties that submitted such an allegation of eva- sion, providing information to such party or parties on the status of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s consideration of the al- legation and decision to pursue or not pur- sue any administrative inquiries or other ac- tions, such as changes in policies, proce- dures, or resource allocation as a result of the allegation; (C) as needed, requesting from the party or parties that submitted such an allegation of evasion any additional information that may be relevant for U.S. Customs and Bor- der Protection determining whether to ini- tiate an administrative inquiry or take any other action regarding the allegation; (D) notifying on a timely basis the party or parties that submitted such an allegation of the results of any administrative, civil, or criminal actions taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or other Federal agency regarding evasion as a direct or indirect re- sult of the allegation; (E) upon request, providing technical as- sistance and advice to eligible small busi- nesses to enable such businesses to prepare and submit such an allegation of evasion, ex- cept that the Director may deny technical assistance if the Director concludes that the allegation, if submitted, would not lead to the initiation of an administrative inquiry or any other action to address the allega- tion; (F) in cooperation with the public, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee established under section 4316 of this title, the Trade Support Network, and any other relevant parties and organiza- tions, developing guidelines on the types and nature of information that may be provided in such an allegation of evasion; and (G) consulting regularly with the public, the Commercial Customs Operations Advi- sory Committee, the Trade Support Net- work, and any other relevant parties and or- ganizations regarding the development and implementation of regulations, interpreta- tions, and policies related to countering eva- sion. (c) Preventing and countering evasion of the trade remedy laws In carrying out its duties with respect to pre- venting and countering evasion, the National Targeting and Analysis Group dedicated to pre- venting and countering evasion shall— (1) establish targeted risk assessment meth- odologies and standards— (A) for evaluating the risk that cargo des- tined for the United States may constitute evading covered merchandise; and (B) for issuing, as appropriate, Trade Alerts described in subsection (d); and (2) to the extent practicable and otherwise authorized by law, use information available from the Automated Commercial System, the Automated Commercial Environment, the Automated Targeting System, the Automated Export System, the International Trade Data System established under section 1411(d) of this title, and the TECS (formerly known as the ‘‘Treasury Enforcement Communications System’’), and any similar and successor sys- tems, to administer the methodologies and standards established under paragraph (1). (d) Trade Alerts Based upon the application of the targeted risk assessment methodologies and standards es- tablished under subsection (c), the Director of the Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Division shall issue Trade Alerts or other such means of notification to directors of United States ports of entry directing further inspection, physical examination, or testing of merchandise to en- sure compliance with the trade remedy laws and to require additional bonds, cash deposits, or other security to ensure collection of any du- ties, taxes, and fees owed. (Pub. L. 114–125, title IV, § 411, Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 156.) § 4372. Collection of information on evasion of trade remedy laws (a) Authority to collect information To determine whether covered merchandise is being entered into the customs territory of the United States through evasion, the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner— (1) shall exercise all existing authorities to collect information needed to make the deter- mination; and (2) may collect such additional information as is necessary to make the determination through such methods as the Commissioner considers appropriate, including by issuing questionnaires with respect to the entry or en- tries at issue to— (A) a person who filed an allegation with respect to the covered merchandise; (B) a person who is alleged to have entered the covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through eva- sion; or (C) any other person who is determined to have information relevant to the allegation of entry of covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion. Page 1108 TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES § 4373 (b) Adverse inference (1) Use of adverse inference (A) In general If the Secretary finds that a person de- scribed in subparagraph (B) has failed to co- operate by not acting to the best of the per- son’s ability to comply with a request for in- formation under subsection (a), the Sec- retary may, in making a determination whether an entry or entries of covered mer- chandise may constitute merchandise that is entered into the customs territory of the United States through evasion, use an infer- ence that is adverse to the interests of that person in selecting from among the facts otherwise available to determine whether evasion has occurred. (B) Person described A person described in this subparagraph is— (i) a person who filed an allegation with respect to covered merchandise; (ii) a person alleged to have entered cov- ered merchandise into the customs terri- tory of the United States through evasion; or (iii) a foreign producer or exporter of covered merchandise that is alleged to have entered into the customs territory of the United States through evasion. (C) Application An inference described in subparagraph (A) may be used under that subparagraph with respect to a person described in clause (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (B) without regard to whether another person involved in the same transaction or transactions under examina- tion has provided the information sought by the Secretary, such as import or export doc- umentation. (2) Adverse inference described An adverse inference used under paragraph (1)(A) may include reliance on information de- rived from— (A) the allegation of evasion of the trade remedy laws, if any, submitted to U.S. Cus- toms and Border Protection; (B) a determination by the Commissioner in another investigation, proceeding, or other action regarding evasion of the unfair trade laws; or (C) any other available information. (Pub. L. 114–125, title IV, § 412, Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 158.) § 4373. Additional information Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized to provide to the Secretary of Commerce or the United States International Trade Commission any informa- tion that is necessary to enable the Secretary of Commerce or the United States International Trade Commission to assist the Secretary to identify, through risk assessment targeting or otherwise, covered merchandise that is entered into the customs territory of the United States through evasion. (Pub. L. 114–125, title IV, § 413(b), Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 160.) § 4374. Cooperation with foreign countries on preventing evasion of trade remedy laws (a) Bilateral agreements (1) In general The Secretary shall seek to negotiate and enter into bilateral agreements with the cus- toms authorities or other appropriate authori- ties of foreign countries for purposes of co- operation on preventing evasion of the trade remedy laws of the United States and the trade remedy laws of the other country. (2) Provisions and authorities The Secretary shall seek to include in each such bilateral agreement the following provi- sions and authorities: (A) On the request of the importing coun- try, the exporting country shall provide, consistent with its laws, regulations, and procedures, production, trade, and transit documents and other information necessary to determine whether an entry or entries ex- ported from the exporting country are sub- ject to the importing country’s trade rem- edy laws. (B) On the written request of the import- ing country, the exporting country shall conduct a verification for purposes of ena- bling the importing country to make a de- termination described in subparagraph (A). (C) The exporting country may allow the importing country to participate in a verification described in subparagraph (B), including through a site visit. (D) If the exporting country does not allow participation of the importing country in a verification described in subparagraph (B), the importing country may take this fact into consideration in its trade enforcement and compliance assessment activities re- garding the compliance of the exporting country’s exports with the importing coun- try’s trade remedy laws. (b) Consideration The Commissioner is authorized to take into consideration whether a country is a signatory to a bilateral agreement described in subsection (a) or a party to the USMCA (as defined in sec- tion 4502 of this title) and the extent to which the country is cooperating under the bilateral agreement or the USMCA, as the case may be, for purposes of trade enforcement and compli- ance assessment activities of U.S. Customs and Border Protection that concern evasion by such country’s exports. (c) Report Not later than December 31 of each calendar year beginning after February 24, 2016, the Sec- retary shall submit to the appropriate congres- sional committees a report summarizing— (1) the status of any ongoing negotiations of bilateral agreements described in subsection (a), including the identities of the countries involved in such negotiations; (2) the terms of any completed bilateral agreements described in subsection (a); and