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CIVIC HERALD
HR 6500 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027

In plain language: American businesses can continue importing qualifying goods—particularly clothing and textiles—from approved sub-Saharan African countries without paying U.S. tariffs through December 31, 2028. Importers who paid duties on eligible items during any gap between the prior program's expiration and this law's passage can request a full refund, which the government must pay back without interest. To help offset the cost of waiving these import taxes, the measure extends standard federal customs and cargo processing fees on commercial shipments through the end of 2031.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—Not determinable from the text provided; the bill applies to commercial importers, carriers, and international trade entities covered by existing statutes without specifying population counts.
Fiscal magnitude—Not determinable from the text provided; the bill extends statutory expiration dates for preferential tariff treatment and existing customs fees without specifying dollar amounts.
Reach35provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Aid & alliances+30Trade & tariffs+35

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Importers of goods from beneficiary sub-Saharan African countriesReceive duty-free treatment on qualifying imports through December 31, 2028, and may request refunds for customs duties paid on eligible entries made between September 30, 2025, and the date of enactment (Sec. 2).provisional
  • Producers and exporters in beneficiary sub-Saharan African nationsMaintain duty-free access to the U.S. market for their exports, including eligible apparel and third-country fabric goods, through December 31, 2028 (Sec. 2(a)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionMust process importer requests to locate and reliquidate eligible entries and issue duty refunds without interest within 90 days of liquidation or reliquidation (Sec. 2(b)).provisional

Who backs it

  • Commercial shippers, international travelers, and commercial importersSubject to extended customs inspection fees and merchandise processing fees through December 31, 2031, three months longer than the previous expiration date (Sec. 3).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Extends duty-free trade benefits for eligible sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)—including special trade programs for apparel and third-country fabrics—through December 31, 2028.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional

  2. Directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection to refund, without interest and within 90 days of processing, customs duties paid on qualifying African imports that entered the U.S. between September 30, 2025, and the date of enactment, provided the importer files a request within 180 days of enactment.

    Sec. 2(b)provisional

  3. Extends customs inspection fees on arriving passengers, commercial vessels, trucks, and railcars, as well as the current merchandise processing fee rate on imported goods, through December 31, 2031.

    Sec. 3provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Aug 10, 2026Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  2. Aug 8, 2026Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Yea-Nay Vote. 90 - 6. Record Vote Number: 228.
  3. Aug 8, 2026Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Yea-Nay Vote. 90 - 6. Record Vote Number: 228.
  4. Aug 7, 2026Motion by Senator Thune to commit to Senate Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith with the following amendment SA 6740 fell when cloture on amendment SA 6732 was invoked in Senate.
  5. Aug 5, 2026Cloture motion on the measure presented in Senate. (CR S4449)
  6. Aug 5, 2026Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. (CR S4448)
  7. Aug 3, 2026Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 89 - 4. Record Vote Number: 218. (CR S4405)
  8. Jul 30, 2026Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S4365)
  9. Jan 12, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  10. Jan 12, 2026On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 340 - 54 (Roll no. 14). (text: CR H637)
  11. Jan 12, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 340 - 54 (Roll no. 14). (text: CR H637)
  12. Dec 30, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-416.
  13. Dec 30, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-416.
  14. Dec 10, 2025Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 37 - 3.
  15. Dec 9, 2025Introduced in House
  16. Dec 9, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

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Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 6 days ago

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