Tariff Modifications: Miscellaneous Duty Suspension Bills

Publication Date: March 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Trade

Type:

Abstract:

Any modification of the tariff code must be approved by Congress, and constituents sometimes request that Members introduce bills seeking to suspend or eliminate tariffs on certain imports. In recent congressional practice, the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees have consolidated duty suspension bills into larger pieces of legislation known as miscellaneous tariff and technical corrections bills. On March 10, 2005, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, Representative E. Clay Shaw, announced the Subcommittee's request that all Members who plan to introduce tariff legislation or miscellaneous corrections to trade laws do so by April 28, 2005, so that the Subcommittee would have sufficient time to evaluate and consider the bills. This announcement probably indicates that the House will consider a miscellaneous tariff bill during the first term of the 109th Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant.