U.S. Commerce Department Increases Civil Monetary Penalties

As required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it will increase civil monetary penalties within the department’s jurisdiction by 6.2 percent in 2022. The increases will take effect on January 15, 2022.

The adjustments will apply to any civil penalties assessed after that effective date even if they were associated with a violation that occurred before January 15. The department raised the penalties based on the percentage increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index between the months of October 2021 and October 2020.

The penalty increases for international trade are:

• Bureau of Industry and Security: an increase from $311,562 to $330,947 per violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 2007 and an increase from $308,901 to $328,121 per violation of the Export Controls Act of 2018.
• Bureau of Economic Analysis: for violations of the International Investment and Trade in Services Act of 1990 (failure to furnish information), there will be an increase in the minimum penalty from $4,876 to $5,179 and an increase in the maximum penalty from $48,762 to $51,796.
• Census Bureau: Under the Collection of Foreign Trade Statistics, for each day’s delinquency of a violation the not-to-exceed maximum per violation will increase from $1,436 to $1,525 and the maximum per violation will jump from $14,362 to $15,256. Additionally, the maximum penalty for Collection of Foreign Trade Statistics violations will go from $14,362 to $15,256 per violation.
• International Trade Administration: the Foreign Trade Zone per violation maximum will go from $3,011 to $3,198. The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement Protective Order per violation maximum will rise from $216,628 to $230,107.
• National Technical Information Service: The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 per violation minimum will increase from $1,012 to $1,075. The maximum total penalty on any person for any calendar year, excluding willful or intentional violations, will rise from $252,955 to $268,694.

Read the full announcement here.