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International Trade: Observations on U.S. Government Efforts to Address Textile Transshipment

GAO-09-813T Published: Jun 18, 2009. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2009.
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Highlights

This testimony provides GAO's perspective on the issues associated with textile transshipment. It is particularly important in the current economic environment that the United States does everything it can to ensure that U.S. laws regarding the entry of illegal goods are fully enforced at the U.S. borders. Effective monitoring of textile and apparel imports are also important because duties on textile and apparel products account for a significant share of U.S. duty collections. However, this enforcement takes place in the challenging and busy environment of U.S. ports of entry - - in fiscal year 2008, there were nearly 29 million trade entries processed at more than 300 ports of entry throughout the United States. This testimony will summarize key findings from our prior reports on (1) U.S. government efforts to enforce laws related to imports of textiles and other goods, including transshipment, and (2) the revenue implications of these efforts, as well as discuss the recommendations we made to improve those efforts. GAO's last report on the subject of textile transshipment was published in 2004 and there have been many changes in world trade and in customs enforcement since that time. However, we have consulted with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) since that report was issued on the status of their response to the GAO recommendations to improve that system. In addition, we have completed additional studies on customs enforcement issues, which provide important insights into the challenges CBP faces as it addresses textile transshipment. One of those reports covered the in-bond system, which was a key subject in the 2004 report on textiles, and a second is on CBP's ability to maintain an emphasis on revenue such as duties collected from textile and apparel imports. In addition, we have also completed numerous studies on intellectual property enforcement by CBP and other U.S. agencies, and there is considerable overlap between those efforts and textile enforcement efforts.

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AccountabilityBorder controlBorder securityCustoms administrationData collectionForeign governmentsHomeland securityImport regulationImportingInspectionIntellectual propertyInternal controlsInternational tradeInternational trade regulationInternational trade restrictionMonitoringRequirements definitionTextile industryEntry security