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House of Representatives

Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act of 2026

2026-08-31 Issue 137 Showing 1–6 of 6

Official Congressional Record ↗

Derek Schmidt

Republican

“I want this bill to pass so the government can claim it is helping protect American industry and workers. This bill will strengthen the Department of Justice's enforcement against trade-related crimes. The government should spend more money to enforce trade laws.”

Derek Schmidt

Republican

“I want this bill to pass. It will help the government enforce trade laws. The government should stop criminals who break trade laws. The criminals are bad. They make counterfeit goods and use forced labor. This hurts American businesses and workers. The bill will give the Department of Justice more power and resources to stop these crimes. I thank the sponsors and committees for their work on this bill.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, U.S. trade policy is a vital tool to protect American businesses and workers, ensure American competitiveness, and achieve our foreign policy objectives. However, smart trade policy, one that puts American workers and businesses first, means nothing if we cannot enforce it. Today, criminal enterprises and bad actors, predominantly based in China, are breaking U.S. trade laws with impunity. This activity is showing up in three ways: financial fraud, counterfeiting, and forced labor. Over the past decade, law enforcement has identified hundreds of instances of trade fraud, most of which originated in China. Not only has that fraud deprived us of antidumping and countervailing duties, but it has seriously undermined our trade policy. In just one year, in FY 2024, U.S. authorities seized over $5.4 billion in counterfeit goods, with China accounting for more than 75 percent of those seizures. Those seizures reflect billions of dollars stolen from U.S. businesses and workers, which undermines the trade policies designed to protect them. In the past 4 years, law enforcement has identified almost $1 billion in goods mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in part, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. These goods carry significant risk of having been produced by forced labor and are illegal to import into the United States. We must do more to punish the criminals who are breaking our trade laws and inflicting serious harm to our economy to the tune of billions of dollars every year. Securing the integrity of our trade is how we stop the bleeding and put American workers and families first. H.R. 1869 will set up the structure needed at the Department of Justice to go after criminals who perpetrate trade crimes. These crimes include trade fraud, tariff and duty evasion, illegal smuggling, trade-based money laundering, trafficking in counterfeit goods, and more. This bill will give DOJ's criminal division the resources to dedicate specialized personnel to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. The importance of these issues to all Americans is clear from the broad bipartisan group of Members sponsoring this bill. I thank all of the sponsors for their hard work and particularly the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which played a vital and significant role in drafting and advancing this legislation. I also thank the members of the Judiciary Committee for their bipartisan efforts on this bill. We may have significant policy differences on the Judiciary Committee, but I am glad we can work across party lines to advance trade policies that protect Americans. I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1869, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Jamie Raskin

Democrat

“I want the bill to pass. It will make a new task force to stop trade crimes. Trade crimes are bad. They hurt Americans and companies. The task force will need money to work. If we don't give them more money, the bill won't do much. I am glad both parties agree on this bill. The Department of Justice should stop trade crimes instead of going after the President's rivals.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1869, which would create a new trade crimes task force within DOJ to strengthen capacity to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes. Trade crimes are a big problem in the U.S. Foreign hackers equip computer chips with spyware and then slip them into the bloodstream of American commerce, market opportunists use unstable materials to create counterfeit batteries that end up exploding and maiming unsuspecting e- cigarette users in our country, and handbags made with forced Uyghur labor passed off as fair trade materials deepen and perpetuate our complicity with human rights crimes. Other trade crimes may not have a clear victim or defined perpetrator, but they are equally pernicious. Cyber intrusions can risk a company's trade secrets without their knowledge. They may never become aware of the data leak, but a foreign competitor can use the intellectual property to unfairly compete with targeted U.S. companies. The deluge of counterfeits and the unique way trade crimes are perpetrated make it difficult for prosecutors at DOJ to enforce our laws. This legislation would help the government prevent trade loss by creating a task force to identify, investigate, and prosecute trade crimes that hurt Americans across the economy. We are proud the legislation has been bipartisan. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the select committee on China, especially our distinguished colleague from Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, the House Appropriations Committee, and the Judiciary Committee for working to carefully negotiate this legislation that, if properly funded, will help the U.S. crack down on foreign entities that circumvent U.S. trade laws. Although DOJ already has dedicated personnel to enforce laws protecting Americans against illegal products, limited funding and resources prevent prosecutors from doing enough. If we don't provide funding for this work, the bill we are voting for today has an uncertain future. The myriad investigators, prosecutors, and support staff envisioned for the task force will never be hired. You cannot increase trade crime enforcement without increasing the number of prosecutors working on the problem, and you cannot increase the number of staff handling trade crimes without more funding. Stopping and preventing counterfeits that hurt Americans, endanger national security, and lose billions in profits for U.S. companies is serious work. I am glad we can all agree that DOJ prosecutors should focus on keeping America safe rather than pursuing political rivals of the President and targeting perceived political enemies with bogus prosecutions. Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation strongly. I encourage my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ashley Hinson

Republican

“I want this bill to pass. It will stop China from cheating on trade. China cheats a lot. They hurt workers here. My bill will help stop that. The government needs to do more to catch China cheating. We need to punish China when they cheat. Both parties should support this bill. It helps American workers and businesses.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act. This bipartisan bill will finally hold China accountable for decades of evading U.S. trade laws through transshipment, duty evasion, and forced labor. The CCP's illicit practices are deliberately designed to take advantage of American workers and our businesses, undercutting American wages and gutting rural manufacturing towns that once thrived with good-paying jobs. The select committee on China uncovered trade fraud by Chinese auto manufacturer Qingdao Sunsong. Sunsong was using transnational shipment to evade our U.S. tariffs, forcing an Illinois company to lay off a quarter of its workforce. Just in May, a Canadian company, or actually two of them, paid the Justice Department $19 million after being caught evading customs duties for Chinese steel. This is not an isolated event but rather a part of a broader strategy by the CCP to dominate global markets, and they are doing it on the backs of American workers while perpetrating egregious slave labor violations. Despite the sheer volume of trade-related cases, the Department of Justice remains inadequately equipped to detect, investigate, and prosecute such offenses effectively. My bill will give the Department of Justice real tools to stop these blatant violations and ensure that penalties are meaningfully enforced. American workers have felt pain for decades because of Communist China's malfeasance. Now it is time for Communist China to face the consequences. This is a bipartisan opportunity to support American industry, reshore domestic manufacturing, and champion American workers. I am proud to lead this commonsense legislation with tremendous support from both Republicans and Democrats. I am grateful to have the support of China select committee Chairman Moolenaar and Representative Krishnamoorthi on this bill, and I deeply appreciate their collaboration. To get this done, there should be nothing partisan about delivering accountability for those who blatantly violate our laws and manipulate American workers. We have seen good progress on reshoring domestic manufacturing, but it is clear that current enforcement mechanisms aren't strong enough. We have more work to do. My bill will help keep that momentum alive while fighting against the bad actors who will stop at nothing to undermine our country, our businesses, and our hardworking families. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation supported by union workers, steelworkers, and American workers.

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Raja Krishnamoorthi

Democrat 5:10 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. It will stop China from cheating on trade. China cheats a lot. They hurt American companies and workers. We have a task force to catch China cheating now. My bill will keep that task force going. The task force will punish China when they cheat. Both parties should support this bill. It helps American workers and businesses. We need to pass this bill now. We can't wait any longer. American workers and companies need our help.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Raskin for yielding and Representative Hinson for supporting this incredibly important bill, H.R. 1869, the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act, also known as the PAIL Act. For years, the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, has violated U.S. trade laws and victimized American workers, companies, and consumers through trade crimes like dumping, duty evasion, and fraud. In fact, there is an entire industry in China that publicly boasts it can help Chinese products illegally flood the U.S. market despite antidumping protections that we have put in place in our laws. These criminal activities have forced far too many American companies to shutter their doors and countless American workers to lose their jobs. Due to bipartisan pressure, last year, the Trump administration established the Trade Fraud Task Force at the Department of Justice to criminally prosecute these crimes. Our bipartisan bill codifies the establishment of this task force and creates an oversight mechanism through annual reporting requirements to Congress. Whether it is dumping below-market iron and steel, flooding our market with illegal vapes, or violating the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, this Trade Fraud Task Force will send a clear message that these illegal trade practices must end now. I have been proud to work with my colleagues across the aisle on this legislation. I am also grateful to Ranking Member Raskin for his support in moving this bill through the Judiciary Committee this past year. We have come close to getting this particular piece of legislation passed and signed into law, but we haven't yet done it. This year I am hoping we can finally cross the finish line. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to fully fund this legislation and make sure it is signed into law this Congress. We cannot put this off any longer. American workers and companies depend on it.

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Derek Schmidt

Republican 5:10 p.m.

“I want this bill to pass. Everyone should support it. I'm done talking now.”

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