Boustany’s trade protection act makes the cut

A key trade bill that includes provisions to greater protect the local seafood industry has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, and so will be part of the legislative package that will now be hammered out by to a final version by both the House and the Senate.

Rep. Charles W. Boustany, R-La., says his PROTECT Act is now officially a part of H.R. 1907, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.

Boustany’s addition, strongly supported by shrimp fishermen and processors who say runaway imports are driving dockside prices to unbearable lows, provides U.S. Customs and Border Protection with increased tools to stop trade evasion.

Evasion occurs when shrimp from nations like China, which is subject to tariffs, ends up shipped here from other nations that do not have that added cost.

First introduced in 2012 with Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La, the act was reintroduced this year.

Boustany said the PROTECT Act will:

• Create a dedicated unit within U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to prevent and investigate trade evasion

• Create a CBP point of contact for private sector trade evasion allegations with the authority to direct evasion investigations and the duty to inform interested parties about the status of investigations

• Require CBP and the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish procedures to ensure maximum cooperation and communication in order to quickly, efficiently, and accurately investigate allegations of trade evasion

• Direct CBP to enter into agreements with foreign countries to enable proactive investigation overseas

• Require CBP to annually report to Congress on all of the agency’s activities to combat trade evasion

Kimberly Chauvin, owner of Blue Water Shrimp Company in Dulac, is among supporters of the measure, and has urged fishermen dock owners to express their support, through an extensive one-woman social media campaign.

The act, she said “creates provisions that we need. The Senate bill is a watered-down version. If we do not get Boustany’s bill, the whole bill does us no good whatsoever.”

With House passage, the bill goes to a conference committee between the House and Senate to work out differences between the two bills.

Boustany and representatives of the Louisiana seafood industry now hope the PROTECT act will survive in the final version.

“Help can’t come soon enough for the Louisiana seafood industry, which is being hammered by illegal foreign imports that distort our markets and make it harder to sell this product produced right here in America,” Boustany said. “The PROTECT Act provides tools for the federal government, legitimate importers and distributors, and trade-affected domestic industries to prevent and combat fraud at our border, not after the fact. I’ll continue fighting for Louisiana seafood and Louisiana jobs by making sure the PROTECT Act becomes law.”