The Senate will not pass a miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) before adjourning for the holiday recess, leaving open the possibility that duties could more than triple on some waterproof footwear Jan. 1.
Congress tries to pass an MTB bill every two years to provide temporary duty relief on products where importers and retailers can prove doing so would help consumers without hurting domestic manufacturers. Outdoor Industry Association and its allies have used the MTB processed to temporarily reduce duties on some popular footwear to less than 10% from 37.5%.
Without an MTB bill, duties could revert on hikers and trail running shoes using certain laminates and treatments to create water-resistant and breathable uppers. Footwear with leather uppers are not affected. That possibility prompted some manufacturers to hurry production and importing of some Spring 2010 footwear earlier this year.
OIA is still hopeful a coalition of trade organizations can persuade both houses of Congress to act on the issue, said Alex Boian, director of trade policy for OIA.
“It is more likely that the Senate passes a short-term (six months or less) extension of all current duty suspensions until the larger MTB package can be passed early next year,” said Boian.
