Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act
The Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act seeks to tighten how the United States determines the country of origin for enforcement actions under several trade laws. It would treat articles that are produced, manufactured, or that undergo final assembly by a “foreign adversary party” (or by an entity owned or controlled by such a party) as if they originated in a foreign adversary country. The bill applies this approach to actions taken under Section 301 of the Trade Act (in response to foreign trade practices), Section 203 (for determinations of import injury), and Section 232 (national security safeguards). In essence, it closes loopholes that could let adversarial supply chains escape tariff or safeguard measures by shifting final assembly to other jurisdictions or through opaque ownership structures. To implement this, the bill adds detailed definitions of who counts as a foreign adversary party and what counts as being “owned, controlled, directed, or operated” by such a party. It relies on a specific ownership threshold (25% or more of equity) and uses the regulatory concept of “control” from a particular CFR provision. The list of “foreign adversary countries” includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela during Maduro’s presidency. The measure would expand these origin determinations across multiple enforcement authorities, potentially broadening the set of articles subject to sanctions, tariffs, or other actions.
Key Points
- 1Expands origin criteria under 301(d) to include articles produced or final-assembled by a foreign adversary party or by an entity owned/controlled/directed/operated by such a party, treating them as originating in the foreign adversary country.
- 2Defines “foreign adversary country” to include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela during Maduro’s presidency; and defines “foreign adversary party” as governments, entities organized under those laws, entities headquartered in those countries, or entities involved in China’s industrial/military-fusion policy with related funding or subsidies.
- 3Establishes an ownership/control threshold: if 25% or more of an entity’s equity is held by foreign adversary parties (directly or indirectly) during the most recent 12 months, the entity is treated as controlled by a foreign adversary party for purposes of origin determinations.
- 4Uses a CFR-based definition of “control” to determine when an entity is effectively controlled by a foreign adversary party.
- 5Applies the same interpretation of origin to enforcement actions under Section 203 (import injury) and Section 232 (national security), in addition to Section 301(d), ensuring a consistent approach across multiple tools of trade enforcement.