House Ways and Means Committee Posts Discussion Draft of Potential Second MTB

11/29/2010

On November 24, 2010, the House Ways and Means Committee posted a discussion draft of a second miscellaneous trade bill (MTB).  The first MTB, also known as the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-227), was enacted into law on August 11, 2010.  The first MTB contained a portion of the provisions contained in H.R. 4380, the initial MTB which was introduced on December 16, 2009.

P.L. 111-227 contained vetted (i) House-introduced extensions of existing duty suspensions/reductions; (ii) Senate-introduced extensions of existing duty suspensions/reductions; and (iii) new duty suspensions/reductions introduced in both the House and Senate. Many of the duty suspension/reduction provisions in P.L. 111-227 were reinstatements of provisions which expired on December 31, 2009.

The House Ways and Means Committee is now moving the second MTB.   The discussion draft of the second MTB contains:

• House bills included in H.R. 4380 (as introduced), but not included in P.L. 111-227;
• new and existing Senate bills;
• re-liquidation provisions; and
• technical corrections.

The discussion draft’s provisions extending expired duty suspensions/reductions would be subject to retroactive treatment effective January 1, 2010.  All of the bills in the discussion draft have been cleared through the MTB process. The duty suspensions/reductions have been cleared through the House and Senate processes, as applicable. The technical corrections are approved by the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, as well as the relevant administering agencies.

The House Ways and Means Committee has stated that it posted the discussion draft of the second MTB for the purpose of increasing transparency in the MTB process and is seeking comments and feedback on the discussion draft.  The next step for the second MTB is to schedule the bill for consideration by the House of Representatives.

For additional information and/or assistance in submitting a comment to the Ways and Means Committee, contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney.