The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee held a hearing on the "Miscellaneous Tariff Bill: Helping U.S. Manufacturers through Tax Cuts," which focused on the "manufacturing and economic benefits of providing temporary tariff relief on imported finished goods and raw materials not produced in the United States and the goal of establishing a process in the House for consideration of such legislation in a manner that is consistent with House Rules."

Yesterday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA) Reichert, Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY) and 15 additional members of Congress introduced the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016. The bill would create an open and transparent process for the House to consider manufacturing tax cuts through the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB), intended to help American manufacturers compete in the global market while also upholding the House earmark rules. The last MTB expired in 2012, and since then American companies have faced an annual $748 million tax hike on manufacturing in the United States, resulting in a $1.8 billion loss to the US economy, Reichert said.

In an opening statement, Chairman Reichert said, "The MTB is designed to boost the competitiveness of American manufacturers by lowering the cost of imported inputs and in some cases, finished goods, without harming domestic firms that produce competing products."

Witnesses at today's hearing were representatives of businesses that would be aided by tariff relief, including:

— Leib Oehmig, President and Chief Operating Officer, Glen Raven, Inc.

— Dawn Grove, Corporate Counsel, Karsten Manufacturing Corporation

— Brooke DiDomenico, Production Manager, Nation Ford Chemical

— Matthew Schreiner, Global Leader for GORE-TEX Footwear Innovation, W. L. Gore & Associates

Grove, whose family business manufactures the PING brand of golf clubs, described how tariffs effectively penalize and create a competitive disadvantage for those golf equipment manufacturers who wish to keep production in the United States.

Chairman Reichert said the testimony made clear that American families ultimately pay the tariffs, whether they are imposed during the manufacturing process or on the final product.

The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 is attached, along with a Committee explanation of the MTB process.

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ATTACHMENTS

Legislative text

Committee explanation