May 25,2012

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Baucus Opens Public Comment Period for Miscellaneous Tariff Bill

Finance Chairman: Miscellaneous Tariff Bill “Creates Jobs and Increases U.S. Competitiveness”

Washington, DCSenate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today opened the public comment period for the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB), which reduces or suspends tariffs on products American manufacturers need but cannot purchase from producers here in the U.S.  Those savings from reduced tariffs give U.S. businesses a critical boost both in the market for American consumers and in the global economy.  The MTB public comment period will remain open through June 22, 2012.

“This package creates jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness, and it lowers costs for American businesses and consumers,” Baucus said.  “These bills reduce costs for everyone – not just those who make requests.  The process to submit requests is wide-open and transparent with all the information available online for anyone to see.”

This year, the Finance Committee is taking additional steps to make the MTB process especially accessible online and transparent for the public.  Available for download here on the committee’s legislation website is a document that lists each individual bill under consideration with legislative text and the related Bill Description Form and Disclosure Form for each.  Also included are the names of the Senators sponsoring each bill and the origin of the MTB request.  The Finance Committee will also provide links to International Trade Commission and Administration reviews as they come in.

Public comments may be sent to MTB_PublicComments@finance.senate.gov.

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