Sec. 3. Trade Transparency Units program
646 words·~3 min read·
/bill/118/s/3384/is/section-3A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Tariff Act of 1930 ( 19 U.S.C. 1304 et seq. ), as amended by section 2, is further amended by inserting after section 632 the following: The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations, shall establish a program under which Trade Transparency Units are established with foreign countries. The purposes of Trade Transparency Units are— to combat transnational criminal organizations, kleptocrats and oligarchs with respect to whom the United States has imposed sanctions, professional money laundering organizations, and other criminal or corrupt actors or enablers of criminal or corrupt activity; and to prevent such persons from exploiting the international trade and financial infrastructures to finance criminal acts, evade sanctions or export controls, evade taxes, tariffs, or customs duties, or launder criminal or corrupt proceeds, by— developing relationships with foreign law enforcement agencies and customs authorities; and working through the Department of State to strengthen international cooperation and facilitate information-sharing agreements with foreign countries that provide for the exchange of import and export data with agencies of those countries, and as appropriate, other United States agencies, which can be used to investigate and prosecute international money laundering and illicit trade cases.
The Executive Associate Director, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may establish Trade Transparency Units in— countries in which money laundering is prevalent; countries in which corruption is prevalent; countries that conduct a high volume of trade with the United States; countries that have inconsistent trade figures or high incidences of illicit trade; trade corridors in which one country that has a currency restriction in place; countries that have been identified as having substantial volumes of suspicious financial transactions, based on data obtained under subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code; or countries for which the Executive Associate Director, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determines that a Trade Transparency Unit would support the purposes of the Trade Transparency Units program under this section.
Before establishing a Trade Transparency Unit in a country after the date of the enactment of the Combating Cross-border Financial Crime Act of 2023 , the Executive Associate Director shall— ensure the United States and the government of the country have an active Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement in place; conduct a risk-based assessment to determine whether the country meets the criteria described in any of subparagraphs
(A)through
(F)of paragraph (1); and work with the United States embassy in the country to establish a trade data exchange agreement or memorandum of understanding with the government of the country that includes, to the greatest extent practicable, language to provide for the sharing of foreign import and export data with relevant United States agencies. The requirements under subparagraph
(A)do not apply with respect to a Trade Transparency Unit established before the date of the enactment of the Combating Cross-border Financial Crime Act of 2023 . A Trade Transparency Unit may be comprised of personnel from— Homeland Security Investigations; other Federal agencies, as appropriate; and foreign law enforcement agencies, as appropriate and pursuant to a trade data exchange agreement or memorandum of understanding described in paragraph (2)(C). After a trade data exchange agreement or memorandum of understanding described in subsection (c)(2)(A)(iii) is signed with a country, the Executive Associate Director, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may assign Homeland Security Investigations criminal investigators to the country to provide training and technical assistance to the country in order to operationalize and maintain a Trade Transparency Unit in that country. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Homeland Security $4,100,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029 to establish and maintain Trade Transparency Units. None of the funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph
(1)may be obligated or expended to carry out civil immigration enforcement or removal activities. .
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 3
Trade Transparency Units program
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources