This bill creates a process run by the Secretary of Commerce for U.S. companies or associations to ask that certain products used to build or furnish homes be excluded from any tariff rate higher than the rate in effect on January 19, 2025. A covered article means products or materials used for single- or multi-family home construction, excluding rare earth elements. The Secretary must grant an exclusion if the product is listed as a "critical homebuilding product" in the bill or if the Secretary finds the product is not available in sufficient quantities from U.S. sources and the exclusion can be enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The bill lists many Harmonized Tariff Schedule classifications that are considered critical homebuilding products. Deadlines in the bill require the Secretary to decide requests within 15 days for critical products and within 60 days for other covered articles. The bill requires results to be posted online within 15 days and quarterly reports to congressional committees. It also allows certain past imports to be liquidated or reliquidated as if an exclusion had been in place and requires any amounts the United States must pay because of such reliquidation to be paid without interest within 90 days. The authority to grant new exclusions ends on October 1, 2029; exclusions granted before that date remain in effect under their terms.
No publicly available information on the bill's total budget or net federal cost. The bill requires that any amounts the United States owes because of liquidations or reliquidations under the exclusion process be paid without interest within 90 days. The bill does not include an official cost estimate in the text.
The bill's "Sense of Congress" states that the United States faces a housing affordability crisis and a shortage of housing supply. It says tariffs on key building materials add billions to construction costs and that excluding certain homebuilding products from higher duties would help support increased home construction and lower costs for building and furnishing homes.
No publicly available information.