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1 1 (February 17, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govechn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Miscellaneous Tariff Bills (MTBs) Background On December 31, 2020, temporary U.S. duty suspensions or reductions on more than 3,000 imported products expired. These duty suspensions were granted by the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-239), enacted in September 2018. The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act was enacted following a specific procedure and timeline enacted in the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (AMCA, P.L. 114-159). The AMCA authorized the International Trade Commission (ITC) to conduct two MTB cycles, one in 2016 and 2019. On August 10, 2020, the ITC completed the final stage in the AMCA process by submitting its final report to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. The AMCA contains no requirement that either committee introduce an MTB; rather, the law expresses a sense of Congress that Congress should consider a bill within 90 days after the ITC submits its final report. Neither committee of jurisdiction introduced an MTB prior to the conclusion of the 116th Congress. What is the purpose of MTBs? MTBs aim to temporarily suspend or reduce tariffs on certain imported products (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 tariff revenues of no more than $500,000 per product); and administrable by U.S. Customs and Border 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 downstream products, thus making end-use products more affordable to consumers. However, the former process by which MTBs were assembled was controversial because it involved constituents asking individual Members to introduce duty suspension bills to benefit the constituent's company. MTB Process in AMCA 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 assist Congress (19 U.S.C. 1332(g)), reviewed duty suspension bills submitted by Members, made recommendations regarding proper tariff classification, calculated tariff amounts, and surveyed industries to Updated February 17, 2021 determine if proposed duty suspensions were controversial. The AMCA expanded the ITC's role to include directly receiving MTB petitions from industry representatives, collecting public feedback, gathering input from other 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 Federal Register notice asking members of the public who can demonstrate that they are potential MTB beneficiaries to submit petitions within 60 days (October 11-December 10, 2019). Petitioners who wished to continue existing duty suspensions were required to reapply. On January 10, 2020, the ITC published all of the duty suspension requests it received on a publicly available website. From January 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 the duty 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 on each petition within 90 days of the publication of the MTB petitions. For each proposed duty suspension the report 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 for purposes of CBP administration. ITC Preliminary Report. The ITC's preliminary report, due 120 to 150 days after the publication 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 estimate of the amount of loss in U.S. revenue; (5) a determination of whether the duty suspension or reduction would be available to any importer of the targeted product; and (6) the likely beneficiaries of the duty suspension or reduction. The ITC submitted its preliminary report to Congress on June 9, 2020. Final ITC Report. After taking into account congressional committee feedback, the additional public comments received, and other information, the ITC 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 revenue loss per year; and (3) is available to any person importing the product. The ITC ittps://Crsreports.congress.gov

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