19 U.S.C. § 4374 — Cooperation with foreign countries on

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 Page 1109 TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES § 4392 (3) bilateral cooperation and other activities conducted pursuant to or enabled by any com- pleted bilateral agreements described in sub- section (a). (Pub. L. 114–125, title IV, § 414, Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 160; Pub. L. 116–113, title IV, § 401, Jan. 29, 2020, 134 Stat. 61.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2020—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–113 inserted ‘‘or a party to the USMCA (as defined in section 4502 of this title)’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and ‘‘or the USMCA, as the case may be,’’ after ‘‘the bilateral agreement’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2020 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 116–113 effective on the date on which the USMCA enters into force (July 1, 2020), but not applicable to certain determinations under sec- tion 1516a of this title or binational panel reviews under NAFTA, see section 432 of Pub. L. 116–113, set out as a note under section 1516a of this title. EFFECT OF TERMINATION OF USMCA COUNTRY STATUS For provisions relating to effect of termination of USMCA country status on sections 401 to 432 of Pub. L. 116–113, see section 4601 of this title. § 4375. Trade negotiating objectives The principal negotiating objectives of the United States shall include obtaining the objec- tives of the bilateral agreements described under section 4374(a) of this title for any trade agreements under negotiation as of February 24, 2016, or future trade agreement negotiations. (Pub. L. 114–125, title IV, § 415, Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 161.) PART II—OTHER MATTERS § 4391. Allocation and training of personnel The Commissioner shall, to the maximum ex- tent possible, ensure that U.S. Customs and Bor- der Protection— (1) employs sufficient personnel who have expertise in, and responsibility for, preventing and investigating the entry of covered mer- chandise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion; (2) on the basis of risk assessment metrics, assigns sufficient personnel with primary re- sponsibility for preventing the entry of cov- ered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion to the ports of entry in the United States at which the Commissioner determines potential eva- sion presents the most substantial threats to the revenue of the United States; and (3) provides adequate training to relevant personnel to increase expertise and effective- ness in the prevention and identification of en- tries of covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through eva- sion. (Pub. L. 114–125, title IV, § 431, Feb. 24, 2016, 130 Stat. 169.) § 4392. Annual report on prevention and inves- tigation of evasion of antidumping and coun- tervailing duty orders (a) In general Not later than January 15 of each calendar year that begins on or after the date that is 270 days after February 24, 2016, the Commissioner, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of U.S. Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement, shall submit to the Com- mittee on Finance of the Senate and the Com- mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep- resentatives a report on the efforts being taken to prevent and investigate the entry of covered merchandise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion. (b) Contents Each report required under subsection (a) shall include— (1) for the calendar year preceding the sub- mission of the report— (A) a summary of the efforts of U.S. Cus- toms and Border Protection to prevent and investigate the entry of covered merchan- dise into the customs territory of the United States through evasion; (B) the number of allegations of evasion received, including allegations received under subsection (b) of section 1517 of this title, and the number of such allegations re- sulting in investigations by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or any other Federal agency; (C) a summary of investigations initiated, including investigations initiated under sub- section (b) of such section 1517 of this title, including— (i) the number and nature of the inves- tigations initiated, conducted, or com- pleted; and (ii) the resolution of each completed in- vestigation; (D) the amount of additional duties that were determined to be owed as a result of such investigations, the amount of such du- ties that were collected, and, for any such duties not collected, a description of the rea- sons those duties were not collected; (E) with respect to each such investigation that led to the imposition of a penalty, the amount of the penalty; (F) an identification of the countries of or- igin of covered merchandise determined under subsection (c) of such section 1517 of this title to be entered into the customs ter- ritory of the United States through evasion; (G) the amount of antidumping and coun- tervailing duties collected as a result of any investigations or other actions by U.S. Cus- toms and Border Protection or any other Federal agency; (H) a description of the allocation of per- sonnel and other resources of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prevent and in- vestigate evasion, including any assessments conducted regarding the allocation of such personnel and resources; and (I) a description of training conducted to increase expertise and effectiveness in the prevention and investigation of evasion; and