Sporting goods companies are seeking temporary duty relief for golf, bicycle, ski and hunting gear, according to a draft of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2010 posted last week by the House Ways and Means Committee.
As in the case of an Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) passed in July, the latest bill would make duty relief retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010 for many products.
The bill is made up of hundreds of individual or so-called private bills, submitted by trade organizations and companies through their members of Congress. The vast majority would benefit chemical, textile and other material companies.
Acushnet Co. is seeking duty relief of up to $600,000 on golf club driver heads imported from Taiwan. The Bicycle Product Suppliers Association is requesting relief on behalf of The Hawley Company, KHS Bicycles, Quality Bicycle Products Inc. Target Corp. and Trek Bicycle Corp. from duties on some bicycle hubs and bells. Wally Herger, R-CA. and Sen. Judd Greg, R-NH have submitted a bill seeking relief of ski poles and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-KS is seeking relief on implements for cleaning hunted fowl.
Each individual bill is vetted by the International Trade Administration to ensure that lowering tariffs will not cause injury to any domestic manufacturers. Even so, leaders of the Republican Party have vowed to block any MTB as part of their pledge to oppose earmark legislation and balance the federal budget.
