Tariff Refund Act of 2026

This Act may be cited as the Tariff Refund Act of 2026.

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) in light of the holding by the Supreme Court that duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) are unlawful, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection must pay refunds of those unlawfully collected duties;

(2) the Commissioner should process those refunds as swiftly as possible and without imposing additional requirements that disproportionately hinder individuals and small businesses from obtaining refunds; and

(3) importers, wholesalers, and larger businesses, especially those that raised prices or passed on direct costs from those unlawful duties while they were in place, should pass on the refunds to their customers, including small businesses and families impacted by those duties.

Notwithstanding section 514 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514) or any other provision of law, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, refund, with interest, to each importer of a covered article all duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and paid with respect to the article.

In the case of an entry of a covered article that was liquidated before the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall reliquidate the entry at the rate of duty applicable to the article in the absence of any duty imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) in order to pay a refund required under subsection (a).

The Commissioner shall, to the extent practicable, prioritize the payment of refunds under subsection (a) to small business concerns.

The Commissioner shall coordinate with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to disseminate information to small business concerns about the payment of refunds under subsection (a), including any required documentation, actions small business concerns should take, and the expected timeline for refunds.

Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 30 days thereafter until the payment of all refunds required under subsection (a) has been completed, the Commissioner shall submit to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report on the implementation of this section that includes—

(1) a statement of the number of refunds issued and the amount of duties refunded under subsection (a) during the 30-day period preceding submission of the report, including a breakdown between small business concerns and other business concerns; and

(2) an estimate of the time anticipated to be required to complete the payment of refunds of all duties under subsection (a).

Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall issue guidance with respect to how to address claims for drawback under section 313 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1313) of duties described in subsection (a).

In this section:

The term covered article means an article with respect to which the President imposed duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

The terms enter and entry include a withdrawal from warehouse for consumption.

The term small business concern has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).