On October 11, 2019, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) opened its electronic portal for petitions seeking temporary import duty suspensions and reductions in accordance with the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016. The ITC will accept these petitions until December 10, 2019 (see Trump and Trade Update of October 1, 2019).

This process allows companies that can show they are likely beneficiaries of a suspension or reduction of import duties to submit petitions directly to the ITC. These petitions will be evaluated by the ITC to determine whether they meet certain statutory requirements. At the conclusion of the evaluation, the ITC will submit preliminary and final reports to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance for their use in developing a miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) for congressional consideration in early 2020.

The ITC’s MTB portal may be accessed here: https://www.usitc.gov/mtbps. According to the ITC, the key considerations are:

  • Petitioners must file their petitions using the portal; no other method of filing will be accepted.
  • Petitioners must file such requests no later than 5:15 p.m. on December 10, 2019; no late filings will be accepted.
  • Petitioners should visit the ITC website before attempting to file a petition and review the ITC’s Process for Consideration of Petitions for Duty Suspensions and Reductions, Handbook on MTB Filing Procedures and the Before You File
  • Petitioners should have all required information and documentation readily available before beginning the filing process; the portal system does not allow users to save their work and return to it at a later time.

Questions about the MTB process can be directed to mtbinfo@usitc.gov, and members of the Thompson Hine LLP International Trade group are also available to offer guidance and assistance with any petitions.