Sharing of Information with Respect to Suspected Violations of Intellectual Property Rights

Floor Speech

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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4930) to expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 4930

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHARING OF INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO SUSPECTED VIOLATIONS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

Section 628A of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1628a) is amended--

(1) in subsection (a)--

(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``suspects'' and inserting ``has a reasonable suspicion'';

(B) in paragraph (1)--

(i) by inserting ``, packing materials, containers,'' after ``its packaging'' the first place it appears;

(ii) by striking ``and its packaging and labels'' after ``images of the merchandise'' and inserting ``, its packaging, packing materials, containers, and labels''; and

(iii) by striking ``; and'' and inserting a semicolon;

(C) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and

(D) by adding at the end the following:

``(3) may provide to the person nonpublic information about the merchandise that was generated by an online marketplace or other similar market platform, express consignment operator, freight forwarder, or any other entity that plays a role in the sale or importation of merchandise, or the facilitation thereof, into the United States that has been provided to, shared with, or obtained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and

``(4) in the case of the provision of nonpublic information described in paragraph (3), shall provide to the person notification of the information transmitted, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.''; and

(2) in subsection (b)--

(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a semicolon;

(B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

``(5) any other party with an interest in the merchandise, as determined appropriate by the Commissioner.''.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith) for his support of this piece of legislation that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) and I have proposed today for consideration. I will share a few remarks on this, but again, I appreciate the committee and the entire staff for the work that they have done to make this possible.

I am very pleased, Mr. Speaker, that my bill, H.R. 4930, which I am calling the counterfeit notification act, has been slated for floor consideration today. I introduced this bill with the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) to target the influx of counterfeit goods entering the United States and to equip our Customs and Border Patrol officers to share real-time information with businesses, e-commerce platforms, and logistics companies.

To put things into perspective, in fiscal year 2023, Customs and Border Protection seized more than $2.7 billion worth of counterfeit goods at the U.S. border. More than 46 percent of seizures originated from China and Hong Kong.

This poses serious national security threats and risks to citizens due to products of poor quality, hazardous material, or unknown production conditions, such as, of course, forced labor.

My bill addresses a key gap in CBP's ability to spot and halt the flow of counterfeit goods into the U.S. under current law. When CBP suspects a shipment may be counterfeit, they are allowed only to publicize limited information. They are unable to share labels, invoices, or packing slips that identify the products of the country of origin with key stakeholders. This leaves the business community, e- commerce platforms like Etsy and Amazon, and logistics carriers like DHL, UPS, or FedEx in the dark when counterfeit activity is happening right under their nose.

To solve the issue, the counterfeit notification act gives CBP explicit authority to share relevant information with companies, carriers, and platforms when they receive a potentially counterfeit shipment.

This will include shipping labels and tracking numbers, invoices and shipping manifests, outer packaging images, or sender and recipient addresses.

The bill also broadens the range of parties with whom CBP can share information, such as e-commerce sites from which the products in question may be sold. This means that CBP will be able to recognize and flag patterns of behavior, like repeat senders of mass shipments, drop addresses used by organized counterfeiters, or common entry points or air routes for suspected counterfeit goods.

For example, if a counterfeit shipment from China repeatedly enters the U.S. via the Port of Los Angeles using the same fake return address, CBP will be able to share these patterns with carriers like UPS, DHL, and FedEx so they can intercept future parcels before they arrive on American soil.

Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill that will strengthen U.S. national security, kneecap bad actors, and protect the IP of American companies.

Mr. Speaker, our intellectual property rights have secured over two centuries' worth of leadership and innovation. They form the foundation upon which opportunity for entrepreneurship is built and which makes the U.S. economy the envy of the world.

This legislation addresses the current weakness in our IP protections by ensuring those at CBP on the front lines of defending our national interests are better aligned with the businesses and workers that define our economic might.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of our colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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