Sponsors (2)
The bill increases Customs' ability to detect and stop infringing or unsafe imports by expanding data sharing, but does so at the cost of greater privacy, business-confidentiality, competitive risk, and compliance burdens for sellers, marketplaces, and logistics firms.
Owners of copyrighted works and small importers can receive more detailed nonpublic supply-chain information from Customs, helping identify and stop infringing or unsafe imports.
Raising the legal standard for information sharing to 'reasonable suspicion' may reduce arbitrary or overbroad disclosures, offering greater privacy protections compared with a lower or vaguer standard.
Small sellers, marketplaces, and freight forwarders face increased privacy and business-confidentiality risks because Customs can share more nonpublic commercial data about their imports.
Allowing designation of 'any other party with an interest' broadens who can receive data and could enable commercial competitors or third parties to access sensitive import information, risking competitive harm or misuse.
Broader data-sharing and verification requirements may impose additional compliance burdens, costs, and legal exposure on marketplaces, logistics firms, and other intermediaries asked to provide or verify information.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Raises the legal standard to “reasonable suspicion” for Customs to share nonpublic import-related data while expanding the types of data and private recipients allowed.
Amends the Tariff Act information-sharing rule to require that U.S. Customs have “reasonable suspicion” (a higher legal standard than mere suspicion) before sharing nonpublic trade-related information with private parties. It also broadens both the kinds of nonpublic information Customs may share (including records from online marketplaces, consignment operators, freight forwarders, and other import-related entities) and the pool of private recipients by allowing the Commissioner to designate “any other party with an interest in the merchandise.” Existing exceptions for law enforcement/national security and limits on recording shared information remain unchanged.
Official title: Expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Charles Ernest Grassley · Last progress August 1, 2025