The House recently passed a package of pro-growth policies included in President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” It’s a bold package of tax cuts, pro-family policies, and investments in American prosperity. But one critical piece of this legislation now hangs in the balance: closing the “double duty drawback loophole” for tobacco.

This outrageous provision allows foreign tobacco companies to get an excise tax refund on exports when they never paid the tax on exports in the first place. The loophole is something only foreign tobacco companies receive; American consumers and tobacco companies pay the full tax bill.

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It’s a scam, and the taxpayer is footing the bill for foreign cigarette manufacturers. The cost is staggering: $12 billion over 10 years.

How are we ever going to get serious about any kind of big debt reduction if we can’t close obvious loopholes like this? This is the easy stuff; it’s a waste and abuse of our tax system and the taxpayer.

Trump saw this scam for what it was back in 2018, fighting to close the loophole as part of his push to level the playing field. But the courts blocked him, saying Congress needed to institute this change legislatively. The House has taken up the mantle, successfully closing the loophole as part of our “one big, beautiful bill.”

Now, proponents of keeping this loophole say this would amount to a large tax hike. Well, when is a tax hike not a tax hike? When you stop giving foreign companies a refund for taxes they didn’t pay in the first place. It is laughably absurd to suggest something is a tax hike when Congress is simply closing a loophole so foreign companies stop getting a tax refund on taxes they don’t pay. True fiscal conservatives should reject this scare tactic.

Proponents of the loophole also say it would hurt a certain group of farmers they work with because the foreign company would have fewer profits. These companies have billions in profits yearly. The farmers sell to many different American and foreign tobacco companies at the same free-market prices. Farmers are not hurt because tobacco companies will still need to buy tobacco for cigarettes. The demand for cigarettes will not change. This tax loophole isn’t a subsidy for farmers. It’s a taxpayer-funded giveaway for multi-national cigarette manufacturers, padding profits through an abusive loophole.

Meanwhile, the fiscal warning signs are flashing red. J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon sounded the alarm on a looming debt crisis, and Moody’s just slapped the U.S. with a credit rating downgrade, doubting Congress has the guts to rein in deficits.

At the same time, the Congressional Budget Office projects an $817 billion surge in Medicaid spending over the next decade. Trump’s ironclad pledge, “NO CUTS to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid,” is a promise that resonates with millions of Americans who rely on these programs and is an important commitment to many of my colleagues. These are commonsense priorities that uplift our citizens, not foreign tobacco giants.

The double drawback loophole isn’t just a budgetary nuisance; it’s a direct affront to Trump’s “America First” and “fair trade” agenda. For years, he has championed fair trade and policies to protect American workers and businesses.

Yet the battle isn’t over. Foreign tobacco interests are working overtime, pressuring my colleagues in the Senate to strip this provision from the bill and preserve their lucrative loophole. Their influence is a direct threat to American taxpayers, and their arguments ring hollow against the principles of fairness and fiscal discipline. We call on our colleagues in the Senate to stand firm, resist these special interests, and keep this critical reform intact.

To honor that promise means hunting down waste, fraud, and abuse. The double drawback loophole is low-hanging fruit, and it’s time to pick it.

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Trump started his second term with a vigorous agenda to onshore manufacturing and bring critical jobs back to America. He needs our help in Congress to ensure that American companies are not disadvantaged in the tax code.

The House has done its part. Now, it’s time for the Senate to act decisively by sending a clear message: The American taxpayers won’t be scammed any longer. It’s time to close this loophole.

Kevin Hern represents Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives and sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. He is chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.