19 U.S.C. § 1526 — Merchandise bearing American trade-mark

(a) Importation prohibited. Except as subsection (d) provides, it is unlawful to import foreign-made merchandise into the United States if it, or its label, sign, print, package, wrapper, or container, bears a trademark owned by a U.S. citizen or by a U.S.-created or organized corporation or association, and registered in the Patent and Trademark Office by a U.S.-domiciled person under sections 81–109 of title 15, when the registration certificate was filed with the Treasury Secretary as section 106 of title 15 requires. The import is allowed only if the owner’s written consent is produced when entry is made.
(b) Seizure and forfeiture. Merchandise imported in violation is subject to seizure and forfeiture under the customs laws.
(c) Injunction and damages. Anyone dealing in it may be stopped by injunction from dealing in it in the United States, required to export or destroy it or remove or erase the trademark, and held liable for the damages and profits provided for wrongful trademark use under sections 81–109 of title 15.
(d) Exemptions and rules. (1) This section and section 1124 of title 15 do not apply to articles accompanying a person arriving in the United States when for personal use and not sale, if (A) within the types and quantities the Secretary sets under (2), and (B) the person was not granted an exemption under this subsection during the 30 days immediately before arrival. (2) The Secretary must determine and publish in the Federal Register the eligible article types and quantities. In setting quantities, the Secretary must consider the number of such trademarked articles usually bought at retail for personal use. (3) If an exempt article is sold within 1 year after importation, the article or its value, recovered from the importer, is subject to forfeiture. A judicial-order sale or estate liquidation after a person’s death is excluded. (4) The Secretary may issue needed rules and regulations.
(e) Counterfeit marks. Merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark as section 1127 of title 15 defines it, and imported in violation of section 1124 of title 15, must be seized and, without the owner’s written consent, forfeited under the customs laws. The Secretary must notify the trademark owner upon seizure and destroy the merchandise after forfeiture. Alternatively, if it is not unsafe or a health hazard and the owner consents, the Secretary may erase the mark where feasible and dispose of the goods (1) by giving them to Federal, State, or local government agencies the Secretary believes need them; (2) by giving them to charitable institutions the Secretary believes need them; or (3) more than 90 days after forfeiture, by Customs Service public auction under the Secretary’s rules. Before an auction, the Secretary must determine that no government agency or charitable institution has shown a need under (1) or (2).
(f) Civil penalties. (1) A person who directs, financially or otherwise assists, or aids and abets importing for sale or public distribution merchandise seized under (e) is subject to a civil fine. (2) For the first seizure, the fine may not exceed the value the goods would have had if genuine, based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price under the Secretary’s regulations. (3) For the second and later seizures, it may not exceed twice that value. (4) Customs decides whether to impose the fine. It is additional to any other civil or criminal penalty or remedy allowed by law.