Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) introduced the Customs Facilitation Act of 2025 to modernize U.S. customs laws and streamline the movement of goods and services across our borders. Currently, the entry of goods across our borders is fragmented, costly, slow, and requires redundant data entries across the U.S. government.
“Moving goods through America’s ports creates jobs and lowers costs for everyday Americans, but red tape and complicated reporting requirements are making the process of doing so too inefficient,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “The Customs Facilitation Act makes common sense changes to streamline customs procedures and reduce the regulatory burden on American businesses.”
“Trade done right has the ability to create more jobs in the United States and lower the price of goods that we purchase,” said Senator Cassidy, M.D. “Whether this happens depends upon how well we process information about the goods entering our country. This legislation modernizes the laws and streamlines the movement of goods and services going in and out of our country in a way that benefits all of us.”
Specifically, the Customs Facilitation Act of 2025 would:
- Create a real One U.S. Government at the Border through a workable one-stop-shop for data entry and decision-making.
- Streamline data requirements by providing parameters to ensure the government is receiving the data it needs without overly burdening the trade industry.
- Simplify the duty drawback process.
- Update the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) webpage, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Trade Compliance Handbook, and the accessibility of Customs representatives to improve information sharing.
- Encourage more timely responses to trade actions and requests from U.S. government agencies.
- Streamline the export process and ensure that clerical errors are not penalized.
- Authorize the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study to examine the U.S. Customs and Border Protection fee structure and make appropriate recommendations to Congress.
- Provide enhancements to Centers of Excellence and Expertise.
Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts in Congress to strengthen our national security and supply chains. She has consistently blocked burdensome taxes on mining and wrote important provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bolster Nevada’s critical mineral supply chain. She’s also introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the domestic supply chain for rare-earth magnets, which are critical components of cell phones, computers, defense systems, and electric vehicles, but are almost exclusively made in China.
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