Press Releases

Today Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) praised the U.S. Senate’s bipartisan passage of H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. H.R. 644 was first passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2015 by a vote of 256-158. The Senate passed the bill today by a vote of 75 to 20.

The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act fosters economic growth to allow businesses to thrive in the 21st Century global economy by stepping up enforcement of trade agreements, strengthening U.S. companies’ ability to fight illegal trade, reducing barriers to legitimate trade, making American exports more competitive, and facilitating small business competition in the global marketplace.

Of important note, H.R. 644 also included language authored by Representative Smith known as the ENFORCE Act which gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection new and important resources and tools to take action against countries trying to evade U.S. antidumping & countervailing duty laws.

In December, Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady thanked Representative Smith for his work on the issue, stating on the U.S. House Floor, "Representatives Boustany and Jason Smith deserve credit for working together to make sure these provisions were included.”

Rep. Smith’s work to target those evading U.S. trade laws originated from a Missouri manufacturer who was competing unfairly against a product illegally being dumped on U.S. markets by China - evading U.S. law by labeling it as manufactured in a country other than China.

After U.S. Senate passage, Representative Smith commented, “Congress today took a major step to create an environment in which American workers can thrive and compete globally on a level playing field. American workers and American products can compete with anybody in the world. But when countries cheat, our manufacturers are significantly harmed. This bill helps end those unfair practices.”

This legislation represents the culmination of a determined effort by Rep. Smith to ensure that Customs and Border Protection and other trade enforcement agencies have everything they need to go after bad actors. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 is now on its way to the White House for an anticipated presidential signature.

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