AAFA Commends Passage of Miscellaneous Tariff Bill in the House; Urges Vote in Senate

January 17, 2018 | WASHINGTON, D.C

Today the American Apparel & Footwear Association applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for its unanimous bipartisan approval of the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act (H.R. 4318). AAFA sent a letter to members of the House identifying the bill as a yes key-vote. The association encourages the Senate to quickly follow suit.
 
“The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill is bipartisan and provides much-needed duty relief on products and inputs that are not available domestically. Our business community is firmly behind this bill, because it has a defined purpose and will be helpful on all counts,” said Rick Helfenbein, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. “Special thanks to Chairman Brady, Ranking Member Neal, and everyone who supported the development of the MTB. This bill will provide real benefits for U.S. businesses and result in lower prices for U.S. families, opportunities to hire more U.S. workers, and the opportunity to reinvest in product innovation. We hope the Senate will be able to quickly follow suit.”
 
The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill would temporarily eliminate or reduce import duties on more than 1,700 products (both inputs and finished products) that are not made in the U.S. Once approved, the bill would provide the apparel and footwear industry with much needed duty relief – in 2016 the industry generated more than 50 percent of duties collected by the U.S. government despite only accounting for six percent of total U.S. imports by value.