Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill requires the Department of Justice Criminal Division to establish a task force, named program or comparable structure for trade-related crimes within 120 days after appropriations become available to carry out the Act. A supervisory criminal trial attorney coordinates it. The Attorney General must create criminal-trial-attorney and support positions, provide experienced prosecutors and improve engagement with enforcement agencies, industry and the public. Trade-related crimes include criminal tariff and duty evasion, import-export violations, trade-based money laundering and smuggling.
Who Benefits and How
Law-abiding domestic manufacturers and their employees could gain protection from competitors evading trade rules. Consumers may benefit from enforcement involving unsafe, counterfeit or unlawful imports. Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection staff gain technical assistance, training and coordinated prosecution support. These are expected enforcement benefits, not a new tariff rate, automatic recovery for businesses, or a new private cause of action.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Justice Department prosecutors and support personnel must implement the structure, coordinate across districts and agencies, and pursue the stated increase in investigative and prosecution capacity. Businesses committing covered offenses face greater enforcement risk under existing law. The Attorney General, consulting the Homeland Security Secretary, must report to the named House and Senate committees within one year and annually thereafter by February 1 following the first report. Reports cover publicly charged cases, indictments, spending and additional funding needs. The reported text removes the introduced $20 million fiscal 2026 authorization and its 80 percent Criminal Division allocation, while retaining the operational requirements and the appropriations-dependent start trigger.
Key Provisions
- Requires a dedicated Criminal Division trade-crime structure within 120 days after appropriations become available.
- Requires new attorney and support positions and technically qualified prosecutors.
- Directs training, technical assistance and multi-jurisdictional cooperation with HSI, CBP and trading-partner agencies.
- Protects other appropriate criminal and civil enforcement actions from being displaced by Criminal Division litigation.
- Requires annual congressional reports and removes the earlier specified $20 million funding authorization.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Require a dedicated Justice Department structure, staffing, coordination and reporting for investigation and prosecution of trade-related crimes.
Key Policy Areas
Trade, Law Enforcement
Primary Purpose
Require a dedicated Justice Department structure, staffing, coordination and reporting for investigation and prosecution of trade-related crimes.
Policy Domains
Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act of 2026
Identified Gains
- Law-abiding domestic manufacturers
- Domestic manufacturing employees
- Consumers
- Customs and Border Protection officers
Identified Costs
- Department of Justice Criminal Division
- Homeland Security Investigations staff
- Businesses committing trade crimes
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReceived in the Senate.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, …
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules …
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate …
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5273-5275)
Mr. Schmidt moved to suspend the rules and pass the …
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 683.
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 119-782.
Additional sponsors: Mr. Bishop, Mr. Mrvan, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Timmons, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Congressional trade enforcement oversight committees, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
Department of Justice Criminal Division faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: Congressional trade enforcement oversight committees, Customs and Border Protection
Negative-direction: Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "cbp"
- → U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- "dhs"
- → Secretary of Homeland Security
- "hsi"
- → Homeland Security Investigations
- "division"
- → Department of Justice Criminal Division
- "attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology