Sponsors (6)
The bill tightens tools to stop tariff evasion and protect U.S. firms, but does so at the cost of higher prices for consumers and risks of politicized or overbroad application that could disrupt investment and trade.
U.S. manufacturers and small-business owners: goods produced by covered entities in third countries can be subject to duties at least equal to the original section 301 rates, reducing price advantages from evasion and helping domestic firms compete.
Small-business owners and state governments: the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) can self-initiate anti-evasion measures with defined deadlines (45 and 180 days), which speeds enforcement and provides more timely certainty for firms harmed by evasive imports.
Taxpayers and Congress: USTR must report to Congress with social and economic justification when it declines to impose measures, increasing transparency and legislative oversight of trade-enforcement decisions.
Consumers, taxpayers, and small businesses: imports targeted by these measures could become more expensive if duties equal to section 301 rates are applied to third-country goods, raising prices nationwide.
Financial institutions and small-business owners: broad definitions of 'covered entity' (e.g., a ≥25% equity threshold, derivatives, joint ventures) could ensnare entities with limited ties to a nonmarket-economy country, disrupting legitimate investment and trade relationships.
Financial institutions, small businesses, and foreign investors: linking the authority to Presidential direction risks politicizing trade enforcement, creating uncertainty for businesses and investors about when and how measures will be applied.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by Jodey Cook Arrington · Last progress May 23, 2025
Creates a new trade-enforcement authority that lets the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), subject to any direction from the President, investigate and impose duties or other remedies on entities that move or plan to move production to a third country to evade U.S. section 301 tariffs on goods from designated nonmarket economy countries. The bill sets timelines for USTR action, defines which entities and foreign countries are covered, and requires explanations to Congress if no measures are taken. The authority allows USTR to start investigations on its own or after requests, to apply duties at least equal to the original section 301 duty, and to keep measures in place while the corresponding section 301 remedy remains or while the nonmarket-economy country retains controlling interest in the third-country investment.