NFFS letter to Congress regarding Miscellaneous Tariff Bill

NFFS has joined with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), in calling on Congress to authorize a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) as soon as possible. 

America’s economic and national security depends on a strong manufacturing base and a competitive business environment, and an effective trade policy directly contributes to  the strength and leadership of foundries and other businesses in the U.S. Congress must act this year on critical and long overdue trade legislation to provide the nonferrous foundries in our country with a robust set of tools to compete with China and other countries around the world.

One vital trade tool that supports foundries and manufacturers in the U.S. is the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). The MTB, which temporarily reduces or eliminate tariffs on products that are not available in the U.S., has been expired since December 2020. Since then, manufacturers and other businesses have paid more than $1.3 billion in anti-competitive tariffs on these item significantly impacting their competitiveness in the global economy.

The cost of congressional inaction on the MTB is adding up – costing jobs, incentivizing investment overseas, deterring customers, hurting local economies and costing taxpayers through higher prices on goods purchased by the U.S. government.

Congress can solve the problem simply by passing the MTB through 2026 with meaningful retroactivity, and reauthorizing future MTB cycles without broad and arbitrary restrictions that would be difficult to implement.

Congressional passage of the MTB will spur growth: according to the U.S. International Trade Commission, tariff relief under the previous MTB boosted U.S. GDP annually by as much as $3.3 billion and output annually by as much as $6.3 billion.

Furthermore, support for the MTB is strong and bipartisan: Congress passed the MTB unanimously in 2018, and the Senate approved an amendment with the MTB and other trade provisions in 2021 by a bipartisan vote of 91 to 4.

NFFS, along with the National Association of Manufacturers, urges Congress to pass the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill as soon as possible this year to support the success of foundries, manufacturers, farmers, businesses, workers, consumers and communities throughout the U.S.