Renewing Customs Business Fairness Act Stalled on Hill

After 20 years of pushing, customs brokers got a carve-out to bankruptcy law so that the money importers give them to send to CBP to pay tariffs are not subject to clawback after a bankruptcy filing. The clawback provisions are there so that company insiders or other parties don't get favorable payments just before a filing. But that carve-out expired at the end of last year, and now brokers are trying to get it back. National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America members are making the Customs Business Fairness Act their No. 1 ask during lobbying on the Hill on Sept. 19.

Scott Rausch, legislative director for Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., the lead sponsor of CBFA, told NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference attendees that the bill has not been able to get a markup in the House Judiciary Committee, and he doesn't know if he can get it on House Democratic leaders' agenda so it can go up for a vote under suspension of the rules. Suspension bills are those expected to get two-thirds support, and require less floor time than traditional bills.

Rausch said on Sept. 19 that while there's no overt opposition to CBFA, it hasn't gotten the attention he thinks it deserves. The bill has 26 co-sponsors, including eight Republicans, and "we’re trying to boost those numbers," he said.

There are only six legislative weeks before the end of the year, including four in a lame-duck session that will be consumed with passing a spending bill for the current fiscal year. But Rausch said it's possible the CBFA could get attached to a spending bill or to a year-end tax extenders bill.

Nicole Bivens Collinson, legislative counsel for NCBFAA, said, "Hope springs eternal."

One broker said her representative in the Atlanta area is interested in being a co-sponsor, but is afraid that the bill could get attached to a larger bill he won't want to vote for. Rausch said sponsorship only means you'd vote yes on a stand-alone bill, and that his boss might not vote for a spending bill, even if CBFA were attached to it.

"Ultimately, my hope is we could put some pressure on [through the fly-in], especially those on [the] Judiciary [Committee] and current House leadership, to pay attention to this," Rausch said. "If, by chance, we don’t get this through in these last six weeks, [Rep. Garbarino] will introduce it in the next session, if it comes to that."

The audience applauded.

Bivens Collinson asked delicately what Garbarino's chances of re-election are, and Rausch said he's up in polls by four to seven points. She also said that during 150 meetings planned with members of Congress and their staffs, brokers will be asking members to support passage of CBFA. She said they'll also try to find out if any senator would oppose it riding on a must-past spending bill or the tax extenders.