Congress·In Committee·S. 4049

Sen. Kaine Pushes Reclaim Trade Powers Act to Limit Presidential Control Over Import Fees

Reclaim Trade Powers Act

10 days ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

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Key Points

This bill would repeal Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which currently gives the president authority to impose temporary tariffs or import surcharges of up to 15% for 150 days when the U.S. faces large trade deficits. Removing this power would require any future tariff increases to go through Congress first.
From policy text
“Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2132) is repealed.”
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The bill is sponsored by Sen. Kaine and 12 Democratic co-sponsors, reflecting a push by Congress to reclaim trade authority that was originally delegated to the executive branch. It aims to prevent any president from unilaterally raising import costs without legislative debate and approval.
From policy text
“Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Wyden, Mr. King, Mr. Coons, Mr. Welch, Mr. Warner, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Rosen, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Heinrich, and Mrs. Murray) introduced the following bill”
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The legislation also makes conforming changes to related sections of the Trade Act, cleaning up cross-references to the repealed balance-of-payments authority so the rest of the law remains consistent.
From policy text
“Section 127(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2137(b)) is amended, in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``(and from any action under section 122(c))''.”
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The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee after introduction. As a narrowly focused repeal of one presidential trade tool, its prospects depend on whether bipartisan support emerges for limiting executive tariff authority — something that has historically been difficult to achieve.

Economy Finance

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 11, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Mar 11, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Related News

4 articles

Washington Trade & Tariff Letter·8 days ago

Efforts to Scrap Section 122 Tariffs Gather Steam

Congressional opponents of President Trump's fallback tariff strategy moved this week to dismantle the 10 percent global tariff imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Sens. Tim Kaine and Raphael Warnock introduced the Reclaim Trade Powers Act, which would repeal the obsolete authority.

Feedstuffs·10 days ago

Challenges to Trump's Section 122 tariffs emerge

Sens. Tim Kaine and Raphael Warnock have introduced the Reclaim Trade Powers Act to end President Trump's 10 percent global tariffs by repealing Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Kaine noted the statute became 'functionally moot' when the U.S. switched to a floating exchange rate system.

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg·9 days ago

Tariffs Today: New Bill Seeks Repeal of Section 122

On March 11, more than a dozen senators introduced the Reclaim Trade Powers Act (S. 4049), a bill to repeal section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. This law provides the authority President Trump cited in imposing a global 10 percent tariff following the Supreme Court's IEEPA ruling.