HR7812-119

What This Bill Does

The Securing Accountability in Foreign Entries Act requires an importer of record to participate in the customs filing and meet a United States accountability test. An individual must be a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident. An entity generally qualifies through a substantive United States location and a citizen or permanent-resident owner or full-time employee, organization in Canada, Australia, or a reciprocal covered country, or affiliation with a large established United States entity that accepts service and joint liability.

The bill limits an individual to serving as importer for one entity, subject to an express-carrier customs-broker exception. A nonqualifying foreign entity with a qualifying United States subsidiary must use that subsidiary or another qualifying entity. A physical location must support substantive business operations and generally cannot be a mailbox, virtual address, registered-agent address, or nonpermanent shared office. CBP must issue verification and false-statement rules within 360 days, using its own investigative tools; the importer eligibility rules begin one year after enactment.

Importers must pay duties, taxes, and fees directly to CBP by electronic transfer from a United States-authorized depository institution. The account must be in the importer's legal name or a verified United States entity it owns, and the bank must have completed anti-money-laundering customer identification. Importers provide account details and an attestation; banks must confirm identity verification on CBP request. These payment rules also begin after one year.

An importer choosing a continuous bond must generally maintain at least $100,000 in its own name. Customs brokers cannot use their bonds unless acting as importer. A United States express carrier with substantial domestic infrastructure and at least 300,000 United States employees may designate a wholly owned customs broker and use that broker's bond. New-bond rules begin after 60 days, while renewal rules begin after 360 days.

Who Benefits and How

CBP gains identifiable domestic parties, verified payment accounts, larger bonds, and direct enforcement authority. Federal customs-revenue accounts face less collection risk. Importers with substantive United States operations, Canadian or Australian entities, reciprocal-country entities, and qualifying large-company affiliates retain explicit eligibility routes. Large express carriers meeting the statutory threshold gain a broker-designation exception. Customs sureties may gain demand for larger bonds.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Foreign sellers lacking a qualifying domestic or reciprocal-country structure must appoint a qualifying importer. Importers face location, staffing, account, attestation, direct-payment, and $100,000 bond requirements. United States affiliates accepting foreign-related entries assume joint and several liability. Banks must verify accounts and respond to CBP. Independent customs brokers lose broad use of their own bonds, and CBP staff must build new verification, payment, penalty, and carrier-exception processes.

Key Provisions

• Requires importers of record to participate in customs filings.
• Restricts individual importers to citizens or lawful permanent residents.
• Requires qualifying entities to have domestic accountability or reciprocal-country status.
• Defines substantive physical presence and excludes mailbox-only addresses.
• Requires CBP verification and false-statement regulations within 360 days.
• Requires direct electronic duty payment from a verified United States account.
• Requires bank attestations and identity confirmations.
• Raises continuous import bonds to at least $100,000.
• Restricts customs-broker bond use.
• Creates a narrow exception for qualifying large express carriers.