The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016, signed into law on May 20, supports U.S. manufacturers by lowering the cost of certain finished goods as well as components and materials used in domestic manufacturing. The act’s tariff relief is available to entities that import goods under specified tariff headings, and industry companies may submit petitions to take advantage of this relief between October 14 and December 13.

The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act is Congress’ latest Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB), which is legislation that applies temporary and limited duty reductions to qualifying imported products. To be included in the MTB, the products must not be available domestically, or unavailable in sufficient quantities and without domestic opposition; and the annual revenue impact of the duty relief is less than $500,000 for duties attributable annually to the particular item. In the 2016 act, goods do not have be sponsored by a member of Congress, although Congress does have the authority to remove MTB provisions.

Information from the United States International Trade Commission on the MTB can be found here. Read more on the MTB in PPB’s November issue.