The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 allows companies to file a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission to seek a temporary tariff suspension or reduction for a period of 2 years. The MTB would reduce column 1 (regular) duties only. Other duties such as Section 301, Section 232, EU tariffs, antidumping, or countervailing duties would still apply. Petitions are to be filed through the ITC’s portal starting at 8:45 a.m. ET on October 11, 2019 through December 10, 2019. Petitioners must use the portal; paper submissions or email submissions are not accepted.
Among the requirements for the petition are the HTS number of the product, a clear description of the item and its uses, the countries from which it is imported, the industry in the United States that uses the item, an estimate of the total and dutiable value of imports of the item for the calendar year preceding the year in which the petition is filed, for the calendar year in which the petition is filed, and for each of the 5 calendar years after the calendar year in which the petition is filed, including an estimate of the value of such imports by the person who submits the petition and by any other importers, if available. Petitioners may also seek a renewal for products included in the current MTB due to expire December 31, 2020. The product should not be produced in the US, and duty savings may not be more than $500,000 per year per product. Full details are available on the portal website.
Once the petition period closes, the ITC will publish the petitions on its website (the process does allow users to claim certain details as confidential business information) in January 2020. There is a 45 day public comment period and then the final approved petitions are submitted to Congress. The MTB could then be approved by fall 2020.
Correct tariff classification and a concise product description are critical to a successful MTB petition. If you need a product classification review, please contact us.