The House of Representatives recently approved legislation that would cut costs for manufacturers and establish a new process for considering legislation to suspend tariffs on products not made in America.
The bipartisan American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act, H.R. 4923, would establish a new process for suspending tariffs on products from outside of America, known as a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB).
“Without an MTB, Minnesota manufacturers are effectively competing against their global counterparts with one arm tied behind their back,” U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, said. “Working in a bipartisan way, we’ve developed a new process that will reduce taxes on our job creators and inject much-needed capital into our economy.”
The last MTB expired in 2012 and triggered $748 million in tax increases on American job creators. The provision also supported 90,000 manufacturing jobs.
The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act would reduce manufacturer’s costs to produce goods by nearly $1 billion, and it would help manufacturers attain raw materials needed to make products in the United States.
“By lessening the manufacturers’ tax burden, we are helping them compete and create jobs,” U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) said. “They are once again able to make their products here, and sell them around the world.”
U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), the vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, said that American manufacturers have faced hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary tariff costs for too long.
“Those costs have hindered domestic production, decreased investment, increased consumer prices and hurt U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace,” Lance said. “It’s time to level the playing field and put American companies that hire American workers on more equal footing.”
U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) noted the negative impact that the last MTB’s expiration in 2012 has had on American manufacturing.
“(On Wednesday), I joined my colleagues in overwhelmingly passing legislation that will set up a new, transparent process by which Congress can eliminate those tariffs,” Walorksi said. “This is a crucial measure that will make our manufacturers more competitive and lower costs for consumers.”