Ways and Means Committee Releases Draft of MTB Manager's Amendment; Comments Sought from Public

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July 12, 2010

The House Ways and Means Committee has posted a draft manager’s amendment of H.R. 4380, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections bill of 2009.  The manager’s amendment replaces the original bill introduced in December 2009.

On December 16, 2009, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Levin (D) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Brady (R) introduced H.R. 4380, a compilation of individual bills that would temporarily suspend or lower duty rates for various products and chemicals. The Senate did not introduce its own Miscellaneous Trade Bill (MTB) in 2009, but it did begin the process of vetting individual duty suspension and reduction bills that had been introduced.

The manager’s amendment would create new HTS 9902 duty suspension and duty reduction provisions, and extend and/or revise certain others that have expired (most expired on December 31, 2009).  Congress adjourned at the end of 2009 without passing an Omnibus MTB. As a result, hundreds of HTS 9902 tariff numbers, which provided temporary duty suspensions or reductions to certain products, expired on December 31, 2009.

Over the last several months, the Committee has received comments from the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. International Trade Commission, member offices and the general public. The Committee used this information to adjust bill nomenclature and tariff rates, and to exclude certain bills.

In fear of Republican objections however, the manager’s amendment is limited to: (1) bills requesting new duty suspensions or reductions that have a House and Senate counterpart; (2) House bills extending expired provisions; and (3) Senate bills extending expired provisions. Duty suspension and other tariff bills not included in the manager’s amendment will be considered in a second MTB package at a later date.

Democrats on the Committee are hopeful that with a fully vetted package in hand, they and public-business sources will be able to convince Republicans to drop their objections to duty suspension bills, which Republicans currently consider to be an “earmark.”  The Committee is accepting public comments on the manager’s amendment and is encouraging interested parties to contact relevant Republican offices regarding the bill.  While the Committee has not set a deadline for comments, sources on the Committee indicate that comments from the public are welcome and may be addressed to Chairman Levin’s attention.

According to a staffer on the committee, the Democrats are hopeful that they can garner enough support to introduce the manager’s amendment before the August recess.

Please contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney for further information or for assistance in preparing a comment for the Committee.