House Freshmen Push for Quick MTB Action
A group of 65 House freshman members said the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) will be an important vehicle to prevent the tax hike that would result if the expiration of duty suspensions and reductions provisions that were approved by the last congress. The legislators wrote Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) a letter April 20, 2012, explaining their support of the MTB process.
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MTB helps make American manufacturing more competitive and, given the fragile economic recovery, it remains critical to expanding manufacturing employment, they said. The MTB therefore amounts to a jobs bill, they said. It's a mistake to consider MTB as limited tariff benefits under House rules, they said. Unlike earmarks, a duty suspension is available to any U.S. manufacturer and therefore producers down to consumers benefit, said the lawmakers. MTB provisions are also vetted through the most rigorous process and the Ways and Means Committee should move quickly on the MTB, they said.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said he would work to pass the MTB before the end of the year to prevent the expiration of duty suspensions. The MTB process in which all bills, member disclosures, and agency and public comments are posted on the website, represents a model for transparency and accountability that Republican Members, including our freshmen, can be proud of, said Camp.
The letter is (here). Camp's press release is (here).
(See ITT's Online Archives 12040239 for a summary of lawmakers' announcements of the beginning of the miscellaneous tariff bill process.)