The Senate Finance Committee, in conjunction with the House Ways and Means Committee, is expected to announce a miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) process for 2009. The MTB grants temporary, three-year duty suspensions on specific products that have been certified to have no U.S. domestic production.
The House Ways and Means Committee completed an MTB process last year, but the Senate Finance Committee delayed action on the MTB due to a disagreement as to how to proceed with disclosures of those who actively work on such legislation. Further delays may arrive due to pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, but the OIA expect a process to be announced before the August Congressional recess.
“Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) has been helping a large number of members draft legislative language for MTBs on a wide range of outdoor products and assisting those members with their members of Congress to get the bills introduced as soon as the process is announced,” said Alex Boian, director of trade policy at the OIA, in a statement.
