Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act
Key claim: The bill extends duty-free treatment and tariff preference levels for specified Haitian apparel imports through December 31, 2028, restores HTS preferential eligibility lost to prior revisions, and authorizes CBP refunds of duties paid on covered entries on or after September 30, 2025.
Abstract
(HR6504 · 119th Congress) Haiti Economic Lift Program Extension Act This bill extends through December 31, 2028, the special duty-free rules for various apparel products imported from Haiti, including the duty-free treatment provided for a limited amount (referred to as tariff preference levels) of certain apparel products assembled in and imported from Haiti. The bill directs the President to proclaim such modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) that may be necessary to restore preferential treatment to articles that became ineligible for such treatment due to prior revisions to the HTS. The bill also provides for the refund of duties (i.e., liquidation or reliquidation of entries) on covered articles from Haiti that entered into the United States on or after September 30, 2025, and before the date of this bill’s enactment. A request for liquidation or reliquidation must be filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the request must contain sufficient information for CBP to locate the entry or, if the entry cannot be located, reconstruct the entry. CBP must refund any duties previously paid with respect to the entry within 90 days. Latest action (2026-01-13): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Why this matters
The HELP program is a core preferential-tariff channel for Haitian apparel exporters and their U.S. importer partners; letting it lapse would raise landed costs and could shift sourcing away from Haiti. Extending duty-free treatment and TPLs through 2028 preserves margin stability for importers and price stability for downstream apparel consumers, while the retroactive refund mechanism back to Sept 30, 2025 mitigates disruption from any coverage gap during legislative consideration.