CBP Implementation of H.R. 4318, The Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018

On September 13, 2018 the President signed into law the H.R. 4318 Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 (MTB). The MTB amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) to suspend and reduce tariffs on 1,660 products through December 31, 2020. The amendments are pursuant to the new process established in the American Manufacturing and Competitiveness Act of 2016 (H.R. 4923 / P.L. 114-159).

Under previous MTBs, Congress determined which products should be eligible for duty suspension and reduction. Under the new process, the U.S. International Trade Commission collects industry petitions and public comments, analyzes the data, and makes final determinations with federal agency input.

MTB's duty suspensions and reductions are effective for goods entered or withdrawn from a warehouse for consumption on or after October 13, 2018, which is 30 days after the date of the enactment, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2020. All MTB provisions are in HTSUS subchapter II to chapter 99. CBP Office of Trade, Trade Transformation Office (TTO) will have all HTSUS 9902.01 - 9902.18 numbers programmed in the Automated Commercial Environment prior to the October 13 implementation date.

SECTION 301 TRADE REMEDIES: Since approximately half of the 1,660 MTB-eligible items are produced in China, there is overlap with Section 301 tariffs. Products of China subject to Section 301 tariffs can benefit from MTB's suspensions and reductions for the general (column 1) rate of duty, but remain subject to the 25 percent ad valorem rate of duty imposed by headings 9903.88.01 and 9903.88.02 or 10 percent ad valorem rate of duty imposed by headings 9903.88.03 and 9903.88.04.