New MTB Reform Bill Aims to Ensure Impartiality in Submission Process, Says Senate Aide
The most recent reform measure for the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, introduced on April 16, aims to “garner the most fulsome support” on Capitol Hill for the underlying MTB, said a Senate aide close to the legislative process on April 20. The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and a Portman spokeswoman said Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., will also jump on board.
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A Portman spokeswoman said he aims to tack the legislation onto another trade bill in the coming days during an upcoming Finance Committee markup. The committee hasn't yet scheduled that markup, although Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he wants to mark up trade legislation in the coming days (see 1504130064">1504130064). Hatch will first convene another trade hearing on April 21.
The legislation, however, only makes minor process changes and includes additional senses of Congress on the critical nature of the tariff suspension program for U.S. manufacturing. Like the MTB reform bill introduced in late January (see 1501290002), the legislation, S-998, gives industry the option of submitting specific tariff suspension bills directly through the International Trade Commission, rather than a mandatory route through lawmakers.
The bill’s sponsors tout that as a way to remove earmark opposition to the MTB bill that has stymied the program’s renewal on Capitol Hill (see 1504170001). “The way that this legislation resolves the earmark concerns of lawmakers is that the bills can go directly to the ITC or through a member of Congress,” said the aide. “That was a concession that a lot of folks strongly opposed.”
The new bill also lays out a concrete timeline for the MTB submission process. Should the bill become law, the ITC would have to publish in the Federal Register a request for specific suspension submissions by Oct. 15 and again three years later, following expiration of the program. The Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees would also have to publish online on the same date requests for submissions from the public. The legislation emphasizes the tariff suspension requests submitted through lawmakers should not receive preferential treatment over suspension requests submitted directly to the ITC.
The bill, however, doesn’t appear to address the argument that many specific suspension bills qualify as “limited tariff benefits,” which means the suspension impacts only 10 or fewer companies. The Senate aide declined to comment on that aspect of the earmark opposition. The “limited tariff benefit” language is a fundamental part of the Republican moratorium on earmarks. The legislation also does not give the MTB program expedited procedures to move through Congress, said a summary of the bill released by Portman’s office. Some industry members have called for inclusion of those expedited procedures, similar to the fast-track measures in Trade Promotion Authority (see 1502190061).
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the bill text.