HR-10416-119
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Sponsored by Nanette Barragán (D-CA)
What it does
This bill would require the Secretary of Commerce to create a process letting U.S. businesses request exclusions from tariffs (above the rate in effect on January 19, 2025) on materials used to build or furnish homes, such as lumber, cement, drywall, and fixtures. Certain products would be automatically excluded as "critical homebuilding products," while others could be excluded if the Secretary finds they aren't sufficiently available domestically. It also allows retroactive refunds of tariffs already paid on excluded goods and sets a sunset date of October 1, 2029, after which no new exclusions could be granted.
Who benefits
Homebuilders and construction companies that import materials like lumber, cement, drywall, tile, glass, and fixtures; prospective homebuyers and renters who may see lower construction costs passed through; importers and distributors of building materials; U.S. entities that successfully request exclusions and can seek retroactive tariff refunds.
Who is hurt
Domestic manufacturers of competing building materials who could face increased import competition without tariff protection; U.S. Treasury revenue would decrease due to fewer tariffs collected and refunded amounts owed; U.S. Customs and Border Protection would bear added administrative burden processing exclusions and retroactive claims; workers in domestic materials industries that currently benefit from tariff protection.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue the U.S. faces a housing shortage of 3 to 5 million units and that tariffs on essential building materials add billions of dollars to construction costs, worsening affordability for millions of prospective homebuyers and renters. They contend that where domestic supply cannot meet demand, allowing targeted, transparent, time-limited tariff exclusions—with fast-track adjudication and quarterly reporting to Congress—would reduce costs without permanently dismantling trade protections, since the process sunsets in 2029.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that carving out exclusions for a broad category of goods undermines the purpose of the underlying tariffs, whether those tariffs aim to protect domestic manufacturers or serve as leverage in trade negotiations, and that retroactive refunds could cost the Treasury significant revenue. They contend that domestic producers of cement, lumber, and other materials could face import competition they were led to expect protection from, potentially reducing domestic production capacity and jobs in those industries over time.
Constitutional context
Congress holds the power to regulate foreign commerce and set tariffs under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, and it may delegate implementation authority to executive agencies like Commerce and Customs and Border Protection as it has done here; this delegation of tariff-exclusion authority to the Secretary does not implicate a specific landmark case but rests on Congress's long-recognized ability to delegate trade administration functions, subject to whatever intelligible-principle limits apply to non-major-questions delegations.
Checks and balances
Congress directs and constrains the process by statute (deadlines, reporting requirements, sunset date), while the executive branch (Commerce and CBP) implements exclusions and refunds, with quarterly congressional oversight reports serving as the primary check.
Historical precedent
Similar tariff exclusion processes have been used before, notably the Section 301 exclusion process for tariffs on Chinese goods and the Section 232 steel and aluminum exclusion process, both of which allowed companies to request product-specific relief from tariffs.