FIGHTING for America Act would cut down on the spread of fentanyl, counterfeit items by targeting ‘de minimis’ customs loophole.
A bipartisan group of senators has proposed a bill to stop the flow into the United States of illicit goods including fentanyl, counterfeit goods and products made with forced labor.
The FIGHTING for America Act is intended to help officials with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by tightening import requirements on low-value packages.
The announcement of the act came days after 2.2 million illegal cannabis packages were seized by California authorities. Officials say the packages resembled popular junk- food items and were designed to appeal to children.
According to an official release about the bill, the prevalence of illicit packages has quadrupled in recent years due in part to direct-to-consumer shipments from foreign corporations like Chinese companies Shein and Temu. Under the U.S. “de minimis” customs entry process, packages under $800 can enter the country in a streamlined manner and free of tariffs. As a result, customs officials have struggled to contain the entry of goods that violate U.S. law including illicit drugs, counterfeit products and items made with forced labor.
The bill was announced by the office of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden along with Senate colleagues Susan Collins (R-ME), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Bob Casey (D-PA). They touted the endorsement of representatives of labor unions, textile manufacturers, law- enforcement associations and drug- awareness groups.
“Americans should feel confident that anything arriving on their doorstep is safe, legal, and ethically produced,” Wyden wrote. “Our legislation would crack down on foreign companies abusing the law and make sure they play by the rules.”
Like many federal bills, its title features an unwieldy acronym: FIGHTING, or Fighting Illicit Goods, Helping Trustworthy Importers, and Netting Gains.
China and other countries exploit the loophole to avoid paying tariffs on textile, shoes and apparel, or to evade trade penalties. To improve oversight of the de minimis entry process, the law would require CBP to collect more information about incoming packages, facilitate targeting and seizure of illicit goods, and increase penalties on bad actors.
The Biden administration has ramped up enforcement of restrictions on imports to America’s foreign rivals. In June, the Department of Commerce issued a denial order to Portland-based freight-forwarding company USGoBuy, which had been found to have shipped rifle scopes and other sensitive technologies to Iran. The order was thought to be a potentially fatal blow to the company, which was founded in Oregon in 2013.
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