Congressional Tariff Authority Watch: Section 122 and Refund Bills

Quick Answer

Three pending congressional bills are worth separating from the court and CBP lanes:

H.R.2459: introduced March 27, 2025; referred to House Ways and Means.
S.4049: introduced March 11, 2026; read twice and referred to Senate Finance.
H.R.8228: introduced April 9, 2026; referred to House Ways and Means.

H.R.2459 and S.4049 would repeal Section 122. H.R.8228, the Stop Global Tariffs Act, would nullify Proclamation 11012 and direct Section 122 refunds if enacted. None of these bills is current law. Do not treat them as entry-filing, CAPE, refund, or protest instructions unless Congress enacts them.

Informational only - not legal advice.

Why this matters now

Section 122 became operationally important in 2026 because Proclamation 11012 used it for a temporary import surcharge after the IEEPA tariff ruling. On May 7, 2026, the Court of International Trade declared that proclamation invalid and entered relief for the importer plaintiffs, but that ruling did not make every importer an automatic refund recipient. The government appealed on May 8, and the Federal Circuit entered an administrative stay on May 12, so public guidance should keep the court, agency, and Congress lanes separate.

The congressional watch lane is different from the court lane. Court orders can affect existing duties and refunds. Pending bills can change future authority or create a statutory refund path, but they do not change current entry treatment until enacted.

Current bill status

Bill	Chamber	Sponsor	Current status	What it would do
H.R.2459	House	Rep. Jimmy Panetta	Introduced March 27, 2025; referred to House Ways and Means	Repeal Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974
S.4049	Senate	Sen. Tim Kaine	Introduced March 11, 2026; read twice and referred to Senate Finance	Repeal Section 122 and make conforming amendments
H.R.8228	House	Rep. Jimmy Panetta, Rep. Don Bacon, Rep. Linda Sanchez, and cosponsors	Introduced April 9, 2026; referred to House Ways and Means	Nullify Proclamation 11012 and any successor or substantially similar action; direct refunds of duties collected under that action if enacted

As of the June 8, 2026 review, the official sources checked do not show any of these bills enacted into law. Congress.gov lists H.R.2459's latest action as referral to House Ways and Means on March 27, 2025. GovInfo lists S.4049's last action as introduction, second reading, and referral to Senate Finance on March 11, 2026. GovInfo lists H.R.8228's last action as introduction and referral to House Ways and Means on April 9, 2026.

Pending bills are not filing instructions

Do not treat a congressional bill as authority to stop paying duties, amend entries, file CAPE, or assume a refund. Entry treatment still depends on the current HTS, CBP guidance, liquidation status, court orders, and enacted law.

What Section 122 does

Section 122 is the balance-of-payments authority codified at 19 U.S.C. 2132. It allows temporary import measures, including a tariff surcharge, in certain international-payments situations. The 2026 Section 122 surcharge used the 9903.03.* Chapter 99 family.

The two Reclaim Trade Powers Act bills aim at the authority itself. If a repeal became law, the most direct effect would be prospective: future presidents would not be able to use Section 122 in the same way unless Congress later restored or replaced the authority.

H.R.8228 is narrower and more refund-specific. It targets Proclamation 11012, any successor or substantially similar action, and federal spending to carry it out. It also directs the President to take actions necessary to provide refunds for duties collected under that proclamation or a substantially similar action between February 20, 2026 and enactment. That refund language is important, but it is still pending legislation, not current CBP instruction.

What pending bills do not do today

While pending, these bills do not:

make CAPE available for Section 122 entries,
order CBP to refund every 9903.03.* entry today,
resolve whether non-party importers receive relief from the May 7 CIT ruling,
lift or change the Federal Circuit administrative stay or the CIT's May 20 stay-denial order,
affect Section 232 pharmaceutical tariffs,
affect the March 2026 Section 301 investigations,
change liquidation or protest deadlines on existing entries.

That is why this page should live next to, not replace, the Section 122 ruling pages and the Chapter 99 code references.

Watch items

Track these events before changing public guidance:

Event	Why it matters
Committee hearing or markup	First sign the bills are moving beyond introduction.
Reported bill text	Amendments could narrow, expand, or replace a simple Section 122 repeal.
Companion or related bill activity	Trade-authority changes often move as amendments to broader packages.
Floor vote	Signals a real path toward enacted law.
Conference or substitute text	Final text can differ materially from introduced text.
Enactment	Only enacted law changes the statutory authority.

Practical monitoring rule

Use a three-lane model:

Court lane: CIT, Federal Circuit, Supreme Court, and case-specific judgments.
Agency lane: CBP CSMS, Federal Register notices, USITC HTS revisions, and USTR/BIS actions.
Congress lane: introduced bills, committee action, enacted statutes, and appropriations riders.

Do not move a fact from the Congress lane into user-facing operational guidance unless it becomes enacted law or an agency/court action relies on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Section 122 tariff bills should importers track?

The main pending bills are H.R.2459 and S.4049, both titled Reclaim Trade Powers Act, and H.R.8228, the Stop Global Tariffs Act. The Reclaim bills would repeal Section 122 authority; H.R.8228 would nullify Proclamation 11012 and direct refunds if enacted.

Are H.R.2459, S.4049, or H.R.8228 current law?

No. As of the June 8, 2026 review, H.R.2459, S.4049, and H.R.8228 remain pending bills. They do not change entry filing, duty collection, refund eligibility, or protest deadlines unless enacted.

Would the Stop Global Tariffs Act automatically create Section 122 refunds?

Only if enacted. H.R.8228 includes refund language for duties collected under Proclamation 11012 or a substantially similar successor action, but while pending it is not an operational refund rule and does not make Section 122 entries eligible for IEEPA CAPE.

Why should importers track pending tariff-authority bills?

Congressional bills do not change duties until enacted, but they can signal political pressure, affect replacement-authority strategy, and become vehicles for amendments to Section 122, Section 232, Section 301, or emergency-tariff powers.

Sources & Verification