[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1969 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1969
To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to require reciprocity with respect to
de minimis entries of articles, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 14, 2023
Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, and Mr. Vance) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to require reciprocity with respect to
de minimis entries of articles, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``De Minimis Reciprocity Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF DE MINIMIS ENTRIES OF ARTICLES.
Section 321 of Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321) is amended--
(1) by amending subsection (a)(2)(C) to read as follows:
``(C) in any other case, such amount as the
Secretary establishes under subsection (c)(1).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Treatment of De Minimis Entries.--
``(1) Reciprocity with respect to de minimis entries.--
``(A) Establishment of thresholds.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of the De
Minimis Reciprocity Act of 2023, the Secretary
of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations to
establish dollar amount thresholds, which may
not exceed $800, for de minimis entries for
purposes of subsection (a)(2)(C).
``(ii) Requirements.--The Secretary shall
establish a threshold under clause (i) for each
country that takes into consideration--
``(I) the dollar amount threshold
of that country for de minimis entries
from the United States; and
``(II) any related thresholds of
that country, such as a threshold
relating to a value-added tax on
imports.
``(iii) Publication; notification.--Not
later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of the De Minimis Reciprocity Act of
2023, the Secretary shall--
``(I) publish the threshold
established under clause (i) in the
Federal Register; and
``(II) notify the governments of
foreign countries of the threshold.
``(B) Re-shoring and near-shoring account.--
``(i) In general.--There is established
within the Treasury of the United States an
account to be known as the `Re-shoring and
Near-shoring Account' (in this subparagraph
referred to as the `Account'), consisting of
such amounts as are--
``(I) transferred to the Account
under clause (ii); and
``(II) credited to the Account
under clause (iv).
``(ii) Transfer of amounts attributable to
de minimis entries.--
``(I) In general.--The Secretary of
the Treasury shall transfer to the
Account from the general fund of the
Treasury, for fiscal year 2024 and each
fiscal year thereafter, an amount
equivalent to the amount received into
the general fund during that fiscal
year that the Secretary determines is
attributable to revenue received as a
result of the dollar amount thresholds
established under subparagraph (A).
``(II) Frequency of transfers.--The
Secretary shall transfer amounts
required by subclause (I) to be
transferred to the Account not less
frequently than quarterly.
``(iii) Use of amounts.--Amounts in the
Account shall be available, without further
appropriation, for the purposes of facilitating
the movement of manufacturing from the People's
Republic of China to the United States.
``(iv) Investment of amounts.--
``(I) In general.--Except as
provided in subclause (II), the
Secretary shall invest such portion of
the Account as is not required to meet
current withdrawals in interest-bearing
obligations of the United States or in
obligations guaranteed as to both
principal and interest by the United
States.
``(II) Authorization of investment
in other instruments.--
``(aa) In general.--The
Secretary may invest such
portion of the Account as the
Secretary anticipates will be
held in the Account for not
less than 2 years in equity
securities or other securities
through a commercial bank if
the Secretary determines such
investments are appropriate.
``(bb) Definitions.--In
this subclause, the terms
`equity security' and
`security' have the meanings
given those terms in section
3(a) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)).
``(III) Interest and proceeds.--The
interest on, and the proceeds from the
sale or redemption of, any obligations
held in the Account shall be credited
to and form a part of the Account.
``(2) Prohibition on de minimis entries from certain
countries.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of the De Minimis Reciprocity
Act of 2023, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of
the Treasury shall publish a list of countries the
articles of which are not eligible for entry under
subsection (a)(2)(C).
``(B) Criteria for inclusion.--
``(i) In general.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of the De
Minimis Reciprocity Act of 2023, the Secretary
shall establish, and submit to Congress a
report on, the conditions for including a
country on the list required by subparagraph
(A).
``(ii) Considerations.--In establishing
under clause (i) conditions for including a
country on the list required by subparagraph
(A), the Secretary shall consider the
following:
``(I) Violations by the country of
the Act entitled `An Act to ensure that
goods made with forced labor in the
Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the
People's Republic of China do not enter
the United States market, and for other
purposes', approved December 23, 2021
(Public Law 117-78; 135 Stat. 1525)
(commonly referred to as the `Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act').
``(II) Transshipment through the
country of goods from countries on the
list.
``(III) The exportation from the
country of counterfeit goods.
``(IV) Whether the government of
the country is committed to the fight
against trafficking in persons, illegal
narcotics, and terrorism, as
demonstrated by--
``(aa) the government of
the country not being listed
under subparagraph (C) of
section 110(b)(1) of the
Trafficking Victims Protection
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C.
7107(b)(1)) (commonly referred
to as `tier 3') in the most
recent report on trafficking in
persons required under such
section (commonly referred to
as the `Trafficking in Persons
Report'); and
``(bb) certification by the
Department of State that the
government is participating in
the fight against illegal
narcotics and terrorism.
``(V) Such other issues as the
Secretary considers appropriate.
``(C) Countries required to be included.--
``(i) In general.--The following countries
shall be included on the list required by
subparagraph (A), effective on the date of the
enactment of the De Minimis Reciprocity Act of
2023:
``(I) The People's Republic of
China.
``(II) The Russian Federation.
``(ii) Removal from list.--A country
specified in clause (i) may not be removed from
the list required by subparagraph (A) until the
Secretary certifies to Congress that the
government of the country has made progress
with respect to the considerations described in
subparagraph (B)(ii).
``(D) Removal.--
``(i) In general.--The government of a
country on the list required by subparagraph
(A) may petition the Secretary for removal from
the list.
``(ii) Response time.--The Secretary
shall--
``(I) respond to a petition
submitted under clause (i) not later
than 90 days after receiving the
petition; and
``(II) include in that response a
description of any measures the
government that submitted the petition
is required to undertake to be removed
from the list.
``(E) Consultations with congress.--The Secretary
shall consult with Congress before adding a country to
or removing a country from the list required by
subparagraph (A).
``(3) Limitations on eligibility of carriers for
importation of de minimis entries.--
``(A) In general.--An article is eligible for entry
under subsection (a)(2)(C) only if the article is
transported to the United States by a contract carrier.
``(B) Data requirements.--A contract carrier shall
provide the following data with respect to each article
entering under subsection (a)(2)(C):
``(i) The heading or subheading of the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
under which the article is classifiable.
``(ii) The country of origin of the article
``(iii) The country of manufacture of the
article (if different from the country of
origin under clause (ii)).
``(iv) The shipper of record.
``(v) The importer of record.
``(vi) A description of the article.
``(vii) The fair market value in the United
States of the article.
``(C) Collection of duties and taxes.--A contract
carrier transporting articles entering under subsection
(a)(2)(C) shall be responsible for collecting the
duties and taxes owed with respect to such articles and
remitting those duties and taxes to U.S. Customs and
Border Protection.
``(D) Contract carrier defined.--In this paragraph,
the term `contract carrier' means a private entity
that--
``(i) is organized under the laws of the
United States or any jurisdiction within the
United States; and
``(ii) ships small packages into the United
States by air or land.
``(4) De minimis entry defined.--In this subsection, the
term `de minimis entry' means the entry of articles imported by
one person on one day with a fair retail value that does not
exceed--
``(A) in the case of articles entering the United
States, the applicable threshold established under
paragraph (1)(A); and
``(B) in the case of articles entering any other
country, an amount determined by the government of that
country to be de minimis.''.
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