Govwatch

Introduced

In Committee

3

Passed One Chamber

4

Passed Both

5

Signed into Law

Sponsor

Mike Bost

Republican · IL · Representative

Votes with party: 97.7% (662 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/B001295

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (39)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

2025-02-13

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

House Committee on Ways and MeansReferred To · 2025-02-13

Plain-English Summary

Fighting Trade Cheats Act of 2025 This bill increases penalties for, and establishes additional enforcement mechanisms related to, fraudulent and grossly negligent violations of U.S. customs laws. Specifically, the bill increases the maximum civil penalty for a fraudulent violation to three times the domestic value of the merchandise. (Currently, the maximum penalty is the domestic value of the merchandise.) It prohibits a person who commits a fraudulent violation from importing merchandise into the United States for a five-year period. Additionally, the bill increases the maximum civil penalty for a grossly negligent violation to the lesser of (1) 3 times the domestic value of the merchandise; or (2) 10 times the lawful duties, taxes, and fees. (Currently, the maximum penalty is the lesser of the domestic value of the merchandise or four times the lawful duties, taxes, and fees.) It prohibits a person who commits a grossly negligent violation from importing merchandise into the United States for a two-year period. Further, the bill applies these importation bans to an affiliated person (e.g., a family member or employee) of the person who committed the fraudulent or grossly negligent violation. The bill establishes a private right of action for an interested party (e.g., a manufacturer) affected by customs fraud or grossly negligent violations. The bill prohibits any person (or an affiliated person) who commits a fraudulent or grossly negligent violation from participating in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Importer of Record program, and further requires revocation of their importer of record numbers.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

Subjects

Foreign Trade and International Finance

Full bill text is not yet cached locally.

Open text view Read on Congress.gov

Related legislation

Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.

HR2283Recognizing Community Organizations for Veteran Engagement and Recovery Act
Referred to Committee · 2026-10-05
HR9237Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
Referred to Committee · 2026-07-16
HR9214TSP Modernization Act
Referred to Committee · 2026-06-09
HR1041Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act
Passed House · 2026-06-02