WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott announced the Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act to enhance enforcement mechanisms against tariff evasion by foreign entities, closing a loophole often used by Communist China to avoid paying tariffs. Chinese manufacturers have been exploiting U.S. trade law to circumvent tariffs by moving manufacturing to other countries, a practice known as “country hopping.” Senator Scott’s Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act closes that loophole, ensuring tariffs are effectively applied and American manufacturers are not disadvantaged by unfair trade practices.

Senator Rick Scott said, “President Trump is right to use tariffs as a strategic tool to protect American jobs and our best interests, and to hold our adversaries accountable when they’re taking advantage of the United States. This is especially true for Communist China, one of our nation’s biggest adversaries, that will do anything on the quest for global domination and that clearly includes lying, exploiting our laws, evading tariffs and taking full advantage of the former administration’s weaknesses to drive American manufacturers and businesses out of the global market. My bill, the Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act will ensure Communist China and all of our adversaries will be held fully accountable and paying the full price of our tariffs – no exceptions. We’re entering America’s Golden Age with President Trump, and that means putting Communist China and every nation taking advantage of the United States on notice that the America-first economy is BACK.”

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• The Stopping Adversarial Tariff Evasion Act amends the Trade Act of 1974 and the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to ensure that national security-related tariffs and trade restrictions apply to articles that are produced by a foreign adversary-controlled entity as if they were made in the territory of the foreign adversary itself.
• As we see Chinese manufacturers in key industries like autos, solar, semiconductors, and more moving production outside of China to avoid U.S. tariffs on their goods, this bill puts an end to this practice and closes the loophole.

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