I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6496 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to make 
direct payments to certain specialty crop growers or wine producers 
who experience certain losses due to increased tariff burdens, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 5, 2025 
Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. LAMALFA, 
and Ms. SALINAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pro-
gram to make direct payments to certain specialty crop 
growers or wine producers who experience certain losses 
due to increased tariff burdens, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Specialty Crop & Wine 
Producer Tariff Relief Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. USDA ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN SPECIALTY CROP 
GROWERS AND WINE PRODUCERS; AUTHOR-
ITY TO PURCHASE SURPLUS CROPS. 
(a) DIRECT PAYMENT PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall establish a program to make direct 
payments for covered losses, and distribute such 
payments, to the following persons: 
(A) Specialty crop growers. 
(B) Wine producers. 
(2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary shall ad-
minister the program established under this sub-
section in a manner substantially similar to the Mar-
keting Assistance for Specialty Crops program au-
thorized by section 5(e) of the Commodity Credit 
Corporation Charter Act (15 U.S.C. 714c(e)). 
(b) PURCHASE OF SURPLUS CROPS.—The Secretary 
may purchase surplus crops (other than wine grapes) to 
be distributed for nutrition assistance programs. 
(c) REPORTING.—Beginning not later than 120 days 
after the date on which the Secretary first exercises any 
authority under subsections (a) or (b), and annually there-
after until 2030, the Secretary shall provide to Congress 
a report, organized by crop and region, on— 
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(1) the direct payments distributed under sub-
section (a); and 
(2) any surplus crops purchased under sub-
section (b). 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 
as are necessary to carry out this section for fiscal years 
2026 through 2030. 
(e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Out of any funds 
made available to carry out this section, the Secretary may 
use not more than 1 percent for administrative costs. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COVERED LOSS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
loss’’ includes— 
(i) increased costs related to— 
(I) the tenderness and perish-
ability of specialty crops; 
(II) the need to use specialized 
handling and transport equipment 
with temperature and humidity con-
trol; 
(III) packaging to prevent dam-
age; 
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(IV) moving perishables to mar-
ket quickly; and 
(V) higher labor costs; 
(ii) reduced exports due to an in-
creased tariff burden; 
(iii) lost export revenue due to de-
creased foreign demand; 
(iv) economic loss due to reduced mar-
ket access; 
(v) reduced contracts with a foreign 
buyer; and 
(vi) cancelled or reduced contracts due 
to reduced foreign demand. 
(B) WINE OR WINE GRAPE PRODUCERS.— 
With respect to a wine producer or a specialty 
crop grower who produces wine grapes, the 
term ‘‘covered loss’’— 
(i) has the meaning given such term 
under paragraph (A); and 
(ii) includes lost qualifying export rev-
enue for wine. 
(2) INCREASED
TARIFF
BURDEN.—The term 
‘‘increased tariff burden’’ means a tariff that was in-
troduced by another country on United States prod-
ucts on or after January 20, 2025. 
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(3) NUTRITION PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘nutri-
tion programs’’ includes the following: 
(A) The school breakfast program estab-
lished under section 4 of the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 
(B) The school lunch program under the 
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 
(C) The supplemental nutrition assistance 
program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 
(D) Any other such programs as deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
(4) QUALIFYING EXPORT REVENUE.—The term 
‘‘qualifying export revenue’’ means the percentage of 
lost export revenue for wine in an amount equal to 
the percentage of such wine produced in the United 
States with United States-grown grapes. 
(5) SPECIALTY
CROP.—The term ‘‘specialty 
crop’’— 
(A) has the meaning given such term in 
section 3 of the Specialty Crops Competitive-
ness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note); and 
(B) includes wine grapes. 
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(6) WINE.—The term ‘‘wine’’ means the prod-
uct obtained from normal alcoholic fermentation of 
the juice of sound ripe grapes or other agricultural 
products containing natural or added sugar or any 
such alcoholic beverage to which is added grape 
brand, fruit brandy, or spirits of wine, which is dis-
tilled from the particular agricultural product or 
products of which the wine is made and other rec-
tified wine products and by whatever name and 
which does not contain more than 15 percent added 
flavoring, coloring, and blending material and which 
contains not more than 24 percent of alcohol by vol-
ume, and includes vermouth and sake, known as 
Japanese rick wine. 
(7) WINE
PRODUCER.—The term ‘‘wine pro-
ducer’’ means any person who— 
(A) owns, or has access to, a facility and 
equipment for the conversion of grapes, berries, 
or other fruit into wine; 
(B) is engaged in the production of wine 
for commercial sale; and 
(C) holds all licenses, permits, or approvals 
required under Federal or State law for the ac-
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tivities described under subparagraphs (A) and 
(B). 
Æ 
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