“A bill to provide for the refund of duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) following the Supreme Court's holding that duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection must issue refunds of those duties; (2) the Commissioner must process such refunds as swiftly as possible without additional requirements that disproportionately burden individuals and small businesses; (3) the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) system for refunds is seriously flawed and imposes unjustified burdens on importers, particularly small businesses; and (4) importers, wholesalers, and larger businesses—especially those that raised prices or passed on costs from the unlawful duties—should pass refunds to their customers, including small businesses and families.
This section requires the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to automatically refund, with interest, all duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA, 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) on covered articles (i.e., articles subject to such presidentially imposed duties) to importers within 30 days of enactment, including by reliquidating any prior entries at the otherwise applicable duty rate. The section directs prioritization of refunds to small business concerns (as defined in the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632), prohibits any requirement for importer requests or documentation, and specifies that "entry" includes withdrawals from warehouse for consumption.