PROTECT Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Trade.
Preventing Recurring Trade Evasion and Circumvention Act or PROTECT Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish within the Office of International Trade of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Division (including a National Targeting and Analysis Group) to prevent and counter evasion of antidumping or countervailing duty orders with respect to covered merchandise entered into the United States.
Directs the Group to establish targeted risk assessment methodologies and standards for: (1) evaluating the risk that cargo destined for the United States may constitute evading covered merchandise, and (2) issuing Trade Alerts to U.S. ports of entry directing further inspection of specific merchandise to ensure compliance with U.S. trade remedy laws. Requires the Group also to use information available from the Automated Targeting System, the Automated Entry System, the International Trade Data System, and the Treasury Enforcement Communications System to administer such methodologies and standards.
Amends the Trade Act of 2002 to repeal the prohibition against use by the Secretary of the Treasury of certain trade data for merchandise entry or commercial enforcement determinations.
Requires the DHS Secretary, acting through the CBP Commissioner, to exercise all authorities to collect information needed to determine whether merchandise is entered into the United States through evasion.
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to permit access to proprietary information submitted to the administering authority or the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to a CBP officer or employee who is conducting an investigation regarding negligence or gross negligence with respect to covered merchandise entered into the United States.
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to negotiate and enter into bilateral agreements with customs authorities of foreign countries to prevent evasion of U.S. and foreign trade remedy laws.
Directs the CBP Commissioner to employ sufficient personnel who have expertise in and responsibility for preventing and investigating the entry of covered merchandise into the United States through evasion.
The summary continues for 2 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 10, 2012. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 14, 2012: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Charles Boustany (R-LA) introduced it on May 10, 2012, and 10 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 8 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 10, 2012, 5283 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5279 days ago, on May 14, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers