The U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) has begun accepting petitions seeking temporary duty suspensions and reductions pursuant to the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (“the Act”). The Act reinstitutes the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (“MTB”) program. As reported in a prior client alert, the MTB program allows Congress to eliminate or reduce duties up to $500,000 per year for a period of up to three years on imported articles not otherwise available in the United States. The last MTB program expired on December 31, 2012.

Likely beneficiaries of the MTB program include manufacturers that use imported raw materials or other articles that must be imported because they are not available domestically. Although some materials already can be entered duty free, in most cases, import duties have to be paid at the time of importation. Congress recognizes that these additional duties ultimately add to the costs of the imported materials and, when such materials are not already available, the increased costs affect the ability of companies around the United States to maximize their investments and hire additional employees.