House Passes the Trade Crimes Act (H.R. 1869) on August 31, 2026 — DOJ Would Get a Dedicated Criminal Division Unit for Tariff Evasion, Smuggling, Undervaluation and Counterfeit Imports Within 120 Days of Funding
On August 31, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1869, the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act of 2026 (the 'PAIL Act'), under suspension of the rules by voice vote. The bill would direct the Department of Justice to stand up a task force or similar dedicated structure inside its Criminal Division to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes — duty and tariff evasion, smuggling, trade-based money laundering, false statements to the government, mail and wire fraud, forced-labor offenses, and trafficking in counterfeit goods. The bill text gives DOJ 120 days after appropriations are made available to establish the unit. Nothing changes for importers today: the bill has only passed one chamber and now goes to the Senate, where it must pass before it can be signed into law.
Real-World Impact
The only hard clock in the bill is 120 days: once Congress appropriates money for the unit, DOJ's Criminal Division has 120 days to stand it up. That clock cannot start until the bill passes the Senate, is signed, and is funded — none of which has happened.
Key Points
- H.R. 1869, the Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act of 2026, passed the U.S. House on August 31, 2026 on a motion to suspend the rules, agreed to by voice vote — no recorded roll call
- The bill would require the DOJ Criminal Division to establish a task force or similar structure dedicated to trade-related crimes not later than 120 days after the date appropriations are made available
- Covered conduct in the bill text includes duty and tariff evasion, smuggling, trade-based money laundering, and violations of the Tariff Act of 1930, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Trade Act of 1974 and CAATSA
- It also reaches specific criminal statutes already used in import-fraud cases — 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 541–546, 554, 1001, 1341, 1343, 1349, 1589, 1956–1957 and 2320 (conspiracy, entry of goods by false statement, smuggling, false statements, mail and wire fraud, forced labor, money laundering, and trafficking in counterfeit goods)
- Product-safety statutes are in scope as well: Toxic Substances Control Act violations (15 U.S.C. §§ 2614–2615) and Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act violations (21 U.S.C. § 331)
- The bill text expressly carves out national-security trade laws — the Arms Export Control Act, IEEPA, the Export Control Reform Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act are excluded from the unit's mandate
- Press coverage of the House passage reports the bill authorizes $20 million to fund the effort; that figure does not appear in the engrossed bill text and should be treated as reported rather than confirmed
- The bill is not law. It moves next to the Senate, and no obligations attach to any importer or seller unless and until it is enacted
What You Should Do Now
- 1Treat this as a signal about enforcement direction, not a deadline — nothing is required of sellers while the bill sits in the Senate
- 2If you are the importer of record, pull your last 12 months of entry summaries from your broker and confirm the declared value, HTS code, and country of origin on each one match your actual commercial invoices
- 3Ask your supplier and freight forwarder in writing to confirm the country of origin of your goods, and keep that documentation — transshipment and origin misstatement are squarely inside the conduct this bill targets
- 4If you sell in categories governed by TSCA (coatings, treated wood, certain plastics and chemicals) or the FDCA (supplements, cosmetics, food, devices), confirm your import documentation and certifications are current, since those statutes are named in the bill
- 5Track the bill in the Senate before assuming any change; if it is never enacted, no part of it applies