Tariff Rebate Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2551 To establish the Tariff Rebate Program to disburse revenues from tariffs back to the American people. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To establish the Tariff Rebate Program to disburse revenues from tariffs back to the American people. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tariff Rebate Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) The Chinese Communist Party has ex- 7 ploited its trading relationship with the United 8 States at the expense of American workers and in- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2551 IS dustries, including industries critical to our national 1 security such as steel and aluminum. 2 (2) Tariffs serve various strategic purposes for 3 the United States, but they also impose costs on 4 Americans by raising the price of consumer goods 5 and other imports. 6 (3) American families share the burden of tar- 7 iffs, so they should share in the revenue raised from 8 tariffs as well. 9 (4) Distributing tariff revenues as a rebate to 10 taxpayers will help Americans stand united as we 11 use trade barriers to accomplish important national 12 objectives. 13 SEC. 3. TARIFF REBATE PROGRAM. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (e), the Sec- 15 retary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s delegate (re- 16 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish 17 and implement the Tariff Rebate Program to— 18 (1) determine the total amount collected pursu- 19 ant to duties imposed under sections 201 and 301 20 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2251 and 21 2411) and section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act 22 of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) during 2019 and each cal- 23 endar year thereafter; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2551 IS (2) determine the number of eligible individuals 1 that have filed a Federal income tax return for the 2 taxable year ending with or within the applicable cal- 3 endar year under paragraph (1); and 4 (3) disburse a payment equal to the applicable 5 amount to each such eligible individual. 6 (b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 8 subsection (e), for purposes of this section, the term 9 ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an individual who, with 10 respect to any taxable year ending with or within a 11 calendar year, has— 12 (A) filed a Federal income tax return not 13 later than October 15 of the succeeding cal- 14 endar year; and 15 (B) taxable income of not greater than— 16 (i) in the case of any taxpayer filing 17 a joint return for such taxable year, 18 $168,400; or 19 (ii) in the case of any taxpayer not fil- 20 ing a joint return for such taxable year, 21 $84,200. 22 (2) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘eligible indi- 23 vidual’’ shall not include, with respect to any taxable 24 year ending with or within a calendar year— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2551 IS (A) any estate or trust; 1 (B) any nonresident alien individual or any 2 alien who is not authorized for employment in 3 the United States; or 4 (C) any individual who is a dependent for 5 whom a deduction is allowable under section 6 151 to another taxpayer for such taxable year. 7 (3) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the case of 8 any taxable year beginning after 2019, each dollar 9 amount referred to in paragraph (1)(B) shall be in- 10 creased by an amount equal to— 11 (A) such dollar amount; multiplied by 12 (B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter- 13 mined under section (1)(f)(3) of the Internal 14 Revenue Code of 1986 for the calendar year in 15 which the taxable year begins, by substituting 16 ‘‘2018’’ for ‘‘2016’’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 17 thereof. 18 (c) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 20 subsection (e), for purposes of this section, the ap- 21 plicable amount shall be an amount equal to the 22 quotient obtained by dividing— 23 (A) the amount described in subsection 24 (a)(1) for the applicable calendar year; by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2551 IS (B) an amount equal to the number of eli- 1 gible individuals that have filed a Federal in- 2 come tax return for the taxable year ending 3 with or within such applicable calendar year. 4 (2) ROUNDING.—Any amount determined under 5 paragraph (1) shall be rounded down to the next 6 whole dollar amount. 7 (d) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—For purposes of sub- 8 section (a)(3), the Secretary shall disburse such payment 9 as rapidly as possible following the determination of the 10 applicable amount for the calendar year. 11 (e) SPECIAL REBATE FOR TAX YEAR 2018.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 14 shall— 15 (A) determine the total amount collected 16 pursuant to duties imposed under sections 201 17 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and section 18 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 during 19 calendar years 2017 and 2018; 20 (B) determine the number of eligible indi- 21 viduals that have filed a Federal income tax re- 22 turn for the taxable year ending with or within 23 calendar year 2018; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2551 IS (C) disburse a payment equal to the appli- 1 cable amount to each such eligible individual. 2 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of 3 this subsection, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ has 4 the same meaning given such term under subsection 5 (b), except that paragraph (1)(B) of such subsection 6 shall be applied— 7 (A) in clause (i) of such paragraph, by 8 substituting ‘‘$165,000’’ for ‘‘$168,400’’; and 9 (B) in clause (ii) of such paragraph, by 10 substituting ‘‘$82,500’’ for ‘‘$84,200’’. 11 (3) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 13 subsection, the applicable amount shall be an 14 amount equal to the quotient obtained by divid- 15 ing— 16 (i) the amount described in paragraph 17 (1)(A); by 18 (ii) an amount equal to the number of 19 eligible individuals that have filed a Fed- 20 eral income tax return for the taxable year 21 ending with or within calendar year 2018. 22 (B) ROUNDING.—Any amount determined 23 under subparagraph (A) shall be rounded down 24 to the next whole dollar amount. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2551 IS (f) TARIFF REBATE FUND.— 1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is es- 2 tablished in the Treasury a fund to be known as the 3 ‘‘Tariff Rebate Fund’’, consisting of such amounts 4 as may be transferred to the fund pursuant to para- 5 graph (2), to remain available until expended. 6 (2) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—The Secretary shall 7 transfer to the Tariff Rebate Fund from the general 8 fund of the Treasury an amount equivalent to the 9 amount of duties collected after December 31, 2016, 10 and imposed pursuant to sections 201 and 301 of 11 the Trade Act of 1974 and section 232 of the Trade 12 Expansion Act of 1962. 13 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the 14 Tariff Rebate Fund shall be available to the Sec- 15 retary, without further appropriation, to carry out 16 the Tariff Rebate Program (including any provisions 17 under subsection (e)). 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2551.IS S2551 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS