Breakthrough for Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Process
The Senate moved quickly to approve legislation to retool the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) process, following House passage in April. Known as the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016, the bill now heads to the President for signature. The new MTB process will begin with the International Trade Commission (ITC), who will invite petitions from U.S. businesses requesting duty suspensions.
After an analysis by the ITC, which will include public comment and Administration comment, the ITC will issue a report to Congress with recommendations regarding which products meet the MTB tests of being noncontroversial with no objections from U.S. producers and a de minimis loss in revenue (less than $500,000) . The trade committees will then draft an MTB bill, which can exclude ITC-recommended products but cannot add products. The ITC is directed to initiate the process no later than October 15, 2016. Likely, the first duty suspensions will begin in 2018, though could be implemented in the last half of 2017, depending on ITC and Congressional timing.
Congress' fast action on the MTB reform bill is a huge breakthrough for U.S. manufacturers, restoring a reliable process to request duty suspensions.
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