WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection established a Trade Enforcement Task Force last month within CBP’s Office of Trade to further protect the American economy and domestic industry. The task force is focused on issues related to enforcement of antidumping and countervailing duty laws, and interdiction of imported products using forced labor. Both antidumping and countervailing duty are tariffs imposed on foreign imports priced below fair market value to ensure a level playing field for domestic producers.
“This task force strengthens CBP's ability to detect high-risk activity, target illicit trade networks, and work with industry to disrupt evasion of U.S. trade laws,” said CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske. “It focuses expertise and resources to safeguard the U.S. market and ensure a fair and competitive trade environment."
The task force enables CBP to leverage new enforcement authorities of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, which strengthens CBP’s enforcement capabilities and methods to better enforce U.S. trade laws, including antidumping countervailing duty laws. The Act also enhance CBP’s efforts to combat the import of counterfeit goods and protect intellectual property rights holders, and eliminates obstacles to preventing imports made with forced or child labor into the United States.
The CBP task force will harness the agency’s collective trade enforcement expertise as a focal point for coordination with other government agency partners, including Department of Commerce and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
By focusing its combined resources through the enforcement task force, CBP will be able to combat illicit traders that illegally exploit American trade and conduct enforcement operations at and beyond the border to ensure U.S. industry can compete on a level playing field.