Senate Finance Leaders Question CBP on AI Use in Risk Assessment
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and the top Republican on the panel, Sen. Mike Crapo, are asking CBP to explain how it uses AI in both trade enforcement and trade facilitation, with detailed questions on where it's used, how it's validated and whether the agency allows importers and exporters to challenge a decision that is based on AI.
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Wyden, D-Ore., and Crapo, R-Idaho, noted that AI could help CBP be more efficient, but said the administration also said "AI tools deployed with good intentions across the country were later proven unsafe, ineffective, or biased."
They asked CBP to disclose its AI use in:
- cargo screening at shipping terminals and at land borders, truck and rail
- small package screening at express carrier and postal facilities
- passenger crossings
- trade remedy compliance
- Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act compliance
- identification of error or fraud in customs entries.
They asked if CBP audits AI tools' security, efficacy, validity, reliability and bias before deployment and as it's used. "If yes, are these audits performed by an independent third-party? If so, whom? ... If not, why not?"
They asked: "Has CBP ever stopped or altered use of a particular AI tool in response to concerns with its efficacy or impact? If yes, please provide details about the decision."
They asked if CBP gives guidance on legal discovery and evidentiary obligations to departments using AI, and whether it tells importers and exporters that it used AI on their shipments.
"What gaps or barriers, if any, inhibit or impede CBP’s initiatives to safely integrate AI technologies into its program integrity efforts," they asked, adding, "What steps, if any, should Congress consider taking to address these hurdles?"
They asked for responses by Dec. 8.