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1 1 (May 14, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdalx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: M ee Tfl T Miscellaneous Tariff Bills (MIBs) Updated May 14,2020 On October 11, 2019, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it was accepting petitions fromthe public for tariff suspension or reduction for possible inclusion in a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). The ITC solicited public comment on these petitions, and is preparing a preliminary MTB report, due in June 2020, for the HouseWays and Means and Senate Finance Committees. The ITC actions follow aprocedure and timeline enactedin the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (AMCA, P.L. 114-159). This is the secondMTB authorized by the AMCA. The first, the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 (P.L. 115- 239), enactedin September 2018, currently provides temporary tariff relief until December 31, 2020. What is the purpose of MTBs? MTBs aim to temporarily suspendor reducetariffs on certain importedproducts (called duty suspensions). In order to be considered for inclusion in an MTB, each proposed duty suspension must be noncontroversial (e.g., no domestic producer or Member objects); revenue-neutral (forgone tariffrevenues of no more than $500,000 per product); and administrable by U.S. Customs andBorder Protection (CBP). Debate. Many in Congress support MTBs as a relatively low-cost method of providing a competitive edge to U.S. businesses by reducing tariffs on chemicals and other inputs used to manufacture downstreamproducts, thus making end-use products more affordable to consumers. However, the former process by which MTBs were assembled was controversialbecause it involved constituents asking individualMembers to introduceduty suspension bills to benefit the constituent's company. New T T Prccess To address these prior concerns, Congress enacted AMCA to reform the process for vetting MTBs. The law also established a process for initiating two MTBs, one in 2016, and the second in 2019. To be included in an MTB, the same conditions for duty suspensions are applied as in the previous process (i.e., noncontroversial, revenue-neutral, and administrable). Expanded ITC Role. Prior to passage of the AMCA, the ITC, an independent agency with statutory responsibility to assistCongress (19U.S.C. 1332(g)), reviewed duty suspensionbills submittedby Members, made recommendations regarding proper tariff classification, calculated tariff amounts, and surveyed industries to determine if proposed duty suspensions were controversial. The AMCA expanded the ITC's role to include directly receiving MTB petitions fromindus try representatives, collecting public feedback, gathering input fromother related agencies, and reporting findings directly to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. The ITC began the MTB process on October 10, 2019, and followed a timeline specifically established in the AMCA (see Table 1, MTB Process Timeline in P.L. 114-159, below).The process began with an ITC FederalRegister notice asking members of the public who can demonstrate that they are potential MTB beneficiaries to submit petitions within 60days (October 11 - December 10, 2019). Petitioners who wished to continue existing duty suspensions were required to re-apply. On January 10, 2020, the ITC published all of the duty suspension requests it received on a publicly available website. FromJanuary 10 to February 24' the ITC requested public comments on the proposed duty suspensions. On March 30,2020, the ITC announced that all comments on theduty suspensions were available to the public. Commerce Report. In the next step in the process, the Department of Commerce, in conjunction with CBP and other relevant agencies, was required to a report to the ITC and Congress oneachpetition within 90days of the publication ofthe MTB petitions. For each proposed duty suspension thereport was to include (1) a determination of whether domestic production exists, or if domestic production does exist, whether the producer objects to the MTB petition; and (2) identification of technical changes to the description,if any, necessary forpurposes of CBP administration. ITC Preliminary Report. The ITC's preliminary report, due 120 to 150 days after thepublication date of the petitions, must contain, for each petition, (1)the product's Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) heading or subheading; (2) a determination of whether or not domestic production or an objection to the duty suspension existed; (3) any technical changes necessary to the product description; (4) an estinmte of the amountofloss in U.S. revenue; (5) a determination of whether the duty suspension or reduction would be available to any importer of the targetedproduct; and (6) the likely beneficiaries of the duty suspension or reduction. On April24, the ITC announced that it would accept additional public comments fromJune 12-22 related to its preliminary report to Congress. Final ITC Report. After taking into account congressional committee feedback, the additional public comments received, and other information, thelTC must submit a final report within 60 days determining, in part, whether each petition (1) is able to be administered by CBP; (2) does not exceed $500,000 in revenueloss per year; and(3) is available to any pers on importing the product. Based on the timeline (see below) the ITC's final MTB report to Congress for the 2019/2020-petition cycle will likely be completed in August2020. If Congress decides to pursue A A '2

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