[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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