[CTC] DeLauro Leads 40 Lawmakers in Sending Letter to Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas Urging Secretary to Address De Minimis Tariff Waivers and Protect American Manufacturers

[Arthur Stamoulis]

https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/delauro-leads-40-lawmakers-sending-letter-homeland-security-secretary

DeLauro Leads 40 Lawmakers in Sending Letter to Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas Urging Secretary to Address De Minimis Tariff Waivers and Protect American Manufacturers 
February 29, 2024 
Press Release <https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases>

Today, U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) led 40 lawmakers in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkas urging the Secretary to provide an enforcement plan to address illegal custom practices that undercut American competitiveness and violate international trade and labor laws. In the letter, the lawmakers urge Secretary Mayorkas to crack down on the de minimis trade loopholes allowing cheap fast-fashion products to flow into the U.S. Moreover, drug cartels and criminals are exploiting these loopholes, which have facilitated the importation of deadly drugs like fentanyl into the U.S.

The full text of the letter can be found here <https://delauro.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/delauro.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/DeLauro%20Letter%20to%20Secretary%20Mayorkas%20on%2030-Day%20Action%20Plan_2.28.24.pdf>. 

“The importance of the contents of the action plan announced by Secretary Mayorkas and its immediate implementation cannot be overstated and are of utmost concern to our constituents and the future of the American textile industrial base, an essential industry that not only contributes significantly to the U.S. economy but also supplies essential products, such as critical national defense materials and medical personal protective equipment,” the lawmakers wrote. “In fact, this enforcement plan is needed to further the goals of the President’s U.S. Supply Chain Resilience project… Without a demonstrative, expeditious, and effective customs enforcement plan, the devastation currently felt throughout the critically important textile production chain that employs nearly 550,000 U.S. workers and produces almost $66 billion in output annually will only worsen...”
“The scale and the scope of illegal customs practices that are undercutting the competitiveness of our manufacturers is daunting,” the lawmakers continued. “…[T]his problem cannot be fixed without a robust enforcement plan that has teeth and can be deployed expeditiously.”
“We sincerely appreciate Congresswoman DeLauro’s leadership in sending a letter with 40 Members of the Democratic Caucus to Secretary Mayorkas, urging DHS to implement a robust 30-day textile enforcement plan to combat massive trade fraud and illegal imports entering the U.S. market, which is creating enormous economic harm to this strategic sector,” said Kim Glas, President and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO). “Secretary Mayorkas recently met with our industry and publicly announced that DHS will issue a public action plan soon. It’s critical that this plan is robust and effective.  This letter comes at a critical time in our industry as it has lost 10 plants in recent months. We agree with the Congresswoman that the Administration plan should close the de minimis loophole harming our sector and facilitating illegal and illicit products.  We also strongly agree it must be implemented swiftly and include stepped up enforcement of false origin claims under our free trade agreements with maximum penalties and stepped-up enforcement of the UFLPA with associated penalties. This vital sector is critical to our national security and health preparedness.  We commend Secretary Mayorkas for committing to a comprehensive textile-specific enforcement plan and look forward to actively working with DHS and the Administration on the details and enforcement of the plan.  We are grateful for the Congresswoman’s leadership and the strong support from Members of Congress.”
40 House Democrats signed the letter led by Congresswoman DeLauro, including: Earl Blumenauer, Brendan Boyle, Nikki Budzinski, Sean Casten, Judy Chu, Joe Courtney, Donald Davis, Christopher Deluzio, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Adriano Espaillat, Valerie Foushee, Jesús Chuy García, Sylvia Garcia, Jared Golden, Raúl Grijalva, Val Hoyle, Marcy Kaptur, Ro Khanna, Daniel Kildee, Barbara Lee, Stephen Lynch, Kathy Manning, James McGovern, Jerrold Nadler, Donald Norcross, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Chris Pappas, Bill Pascrell, Chellie Pingree, Mark Pocan, Delia Ramirez, Deborah Ross, Linda Sánchez, Janice Schakowsky, Brad Sherman, Mark Takano, Paul Tonko, Nydia Velázquez, and Susan Wild.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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