Tuttle Law Offices Status of the Miscellaneous Trade Bill of 2016 April 28, 2016 |
Background and Legislative Process The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016, which incorporates the latest version of the Miscellaneous Trade Bill (MTB), is currently winding its way through the Congressional process. The bill, numbered H.R. 4329, has broad bipartisan support and was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on April 20, 2016. House lawmakers will vote soon on a suspension of rules to allow for a speedy floor vote on this legislation. The Senate Finance Committee has not set a vote on its companion bill (No. 2794) as yet, but a markup of the bill may be bypassed because of the similarity of the House and Senate versions. This maneuver would speed up the process, and it appears likely that the bill will be raised on the Senate floor under that body’s unanimous consent procedures once the legislation passes the House. In addition to the wide bipartisan support the current MTB has in both houses of Congress, the bill also enjoys the strong support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other domestic trade organizations. As noted by the Chamber’s VP for International Affairs, duty suspensions are not an “earmark” in that they apply to all importers who qualify and the process is completely transparent, subject to review by the International Trade Commission (ITC), CBP, the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S Trade Representative (OTR). What the Proposed MTB Provides The most significant change is that under the new MTB, the process would begin with a public vetting process at the ITC rather than stakeholder petitions going directly to Congress. Aside from providing ITC involvement at the outset, the “nuts and bolts” of the process are little changed from previous MTB procedures. The current proposed bill begins with a declaration that Congress regularly and predictably updates the HTS to suspend or reduce duties on goods for which there is no (or insufficient) domestic availability. The last MTB passed by the Congress expired on December 31, 2012, and no duty benefits have been available since that time. As for the process itself, the proposed bill provides that not later than October 15, 2016, the ITC shall publish in the Federal Register and on its website a notice inviting importers and other interested parties to submit within 60 days of publication petitions for duty suspensions and reductions. The content of the petition is relatively unchanged from previous bills. In brief, the petition should set forth:
The ITC will then publish a list of petitions it has received and request public comments, which will be published in the Federal Register and on the ITC website. Next the ITC will submit to the appropriate congressional committees a preliminary report addressing the contents of the petitions it has received including whether or not domestic production exists for each product, whether domestic producers object, and what the estimated loss of revenue to the U.S. would be if duty suspension or reduction was allowed. Then, not later than 60 days after the preliminary report has been submitted, the ITC shall submit to Congress a final report on each petition for a duty suspension or reduction specified in the preliminary report. For each product, the final report will contain a determination by the ITC including:
The ITC will then publish in the Federal Register and its website the procedures to be complied with by members of the public in submitting petitions for duty suspensions or reductions, based on the final report. Within 90 days of this publication, the Department of Commerce, in consultation with CBP and other relevant federal agencies, shall submit to ITC and the appropriate congressional committees a report on each petition that has been submitted. Based on this input, the ITC will submit to Congress a report of the effects on the U.S. economy that would be the result of the duty suspensions/reductions enacted pursuant to the new MTB. The House and Senate will then vote on the final bill and publish a list of the limited tariff benefits to be provided. If you have questions about this or other international trade matters, please contact George Tuttle, at george.tuttle.sr@tuttlelaw.com or at 415-986-8780. George R. Tuttle is an attorney with the Law Offices of George R. Tuttle in the San Francisco Bay Area. The information in this article is general in nature, and is not intended to constitute legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship with respect to any event or occurrence, and may not be considered as such. Copyright © 2016 by Tuttle Law Offices.All rights reserved. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our offices or by others, we do not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and are not responsible for any errors, omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of such information.
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