The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) recently joined 36 agribusiness groups and organizations in urging the renewal of the expired Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB).
The MTB temporarily reduces or eliminate tariffs on products that are not available in the U.S. The MTB has been expired since December 2020, which means U.S. businesses and their customers have paid over $1.5 billion in anti-competitive tariffs.
In a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA), the agriculture groups pointed out that, since the MTB lapsed in December 2020, not only have their members and other U.S. businesses paid more than $1.5 billion in tariffs on imported products, but it also has affected jobs and raised prices for consumers.
“The lack of a renewal is harming manufacturers of all domestic industries, significantly raising costs and impacting products and jobs and especially impacting small and medium-sized businesses as they pay more for product inputs. A renewed MTB would mean lower input prices and decreased price pressures for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and consumers,” the agriculture groups wrote.
NPPC wrote in Capital Update that it supports MTB as a way to decrease production costs — by reducing or eliminating import tariffs on inputs — and make end-use products more affordable to consumers. For example, pork producers get many of the vitamins and minerals they feed hogs from overseas.
“It is vital that the MTB passes this year to support [the] American agriculture supply chain,” the agriculture groups emphasized.
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