We heard compelling testimony about the presence of forced labor in our supply chains, the pernicious role of the de minimis loophole, and the impact of unfair trade practices on American workers and businesses alike.

I’m proud that the Trade Subcommittee Democrats have come up with a number of proposals to accomplish the objectives laid out at that hearing. I hope we can move from rhetoric to action and work together to achieve our shared goals.

Last Congress House Democrats led efforts to pass the America COMPETES Act to support America’s workers and to combat China’s unfair trade practices.

The legislation strengthens U.S. trade laws, closes the de minimis loophole, and invests in America’s workers. My Republican colleagues largely did not support these efforts despite our joint recognition of the challenges to maintaining America’s competitiveness in the global economy.

The de minimis loophole has allowed imports from China to flood the U.S. market, to evade oversight and duties at the border, and to undercut U.S. companies that play by the rules. More than two million packages per day enter the United States under de minimis, the vast majority of those shipments originate from China.

I appreciated the Chairman’s comments at the field hearing in Staten Island noting that de minimis is like a free trade agreement for China. We must be bold in closing this loophole that puts American jobs in danger and creates an opening for trade in illicit products. 

Many of these de minimis shipments contain textiles and apparel—a sector highly exposed to forced labor by the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, China. The de minimis loophole can allow evasion of U.S. trade laws that prohibit the importation of goods made with forced labor, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

President Biden and Ways and Means Committee Democrats have championed the enforcement of U.S. trade laws, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act because we believe the fruits of modern-day slavery have no place in the supply chains of any products anywhere.

Now, my colleagues across the aisle are pursuing policies that would undermine the enforcement of U.S. trade laws to the detriment of American workers. House Republicans have proposed to slash the budgets of the federal government agencies that administer and enforce trade laws that protect American workers and industries—by as much as 22 percent. At a time when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) faces unprecedented trade enforcement workloads we need to be investing more, not less in the enforcement of U.S. trade laws.

I look forward to working with CBP and making sure the agency has the resources it needs to administer U.S. de minimis laws and any reforms.

I urge my Republican colleagues to come up with meaningful trade proposals to ensure U.S. workers, farmers, and businesses have the tools needed to compete in the global economy.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has embarked on an endeavor to update U.S. customs laws to meet today’s trade challenges through the 21st Century Customs Framework initiative.

The agency has worked closely with industry stakeholders to come up with legislative proposals to reform U.S. customs laws. Unfortunately, some of the ideas we have heard about would actually weaken trade enforcement. For that reason, I have worked with Mr. Doggett to urge CBP to oppose an industry proposal to shield vessel manifest data from public disclosure.

As we wrote in our letter, civil society organizations rely on this data to assist CBP with enforcing the U.S. prohibition on the import of goods made with forced labor and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. We should consider how we can make more information available to increase the transparency of supply chains to combat forced labor, not hide away this critical information.

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on these issues as we consider proposals to update U.S. customs laws and procedures.

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman and thank you to our witnesses for being here today and for sharing their experiences with us.

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