American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2015
Summary of Key Sections
Sec. 2: Findings, Sense of Congress
 Findings:
o The U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) imposes duties on imported goods for which there
is no domestic availability or insufficient domestic availability.
o The imposition of duties on such goods creates artificial distortions in the U.S. economy that
negatively affect manufacturers and consumers in the United States.
o It is in the interests of the United States to update the HTS every three years to eliminate
artificial distortions by suspending or reducing duties on such goods.
o The manufacturing competitiveness of the United States around the world will be enhanced if
Congress regularly and predictably updates the HTS to suspend or reduce duties on such goods.
 Sense of Congress:
o Congress should consider an MTB not later than 180 days after the U.S. International Trade
Commission (Commission) and the Department of Commerce (Commerce) issue reports on
proposed duty suspensions and reductions under the Act.
Sec. 3: MTB Process
 Not later than October 15, 2015, and October 15, 2018, the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance
Committees shall establish and, on the same day, publish on their respective publicly available Internet
websites an MTB process.
 Requirements of the Commission:
o Not later than October 15, 2015, and October 15, 2018, the Commission shall publish in the
Federal Register and on a publicly available Commission website a notice requesting members
of the public to submit to the Commission during the 60-day period beginning on the date of
such publication:
 Proposed duty suspensions and reductions, and
 Commission disclosure forms with respect to these proposals.
o A proposed duty change submitted by a Member of Congress shall receive treatment no more
favorable than the treatment received by a proposed duty change submitted by a member of the
public.
o Not later than 15 days after the expiration of the 60-day period, submit to Congress and publish
on a publicly available Commission website the proposed duty changes and disclosure forms.
o Not later than the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of publication of the proposed
duty changes, submit to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees a report on
each proposed duty change, with the following:
 Determination of whether or not domestic production of the article subject to proposed
duty change exists, and if such production exists, whether or not a domestic producer of
the article objects to the proposed duty change,
 Any technical changes to the article description,
 Amount of foregone tariff revenue if the proposed change takes effect, and
 Determination of whether or not the proposed duty change is available to any person that
imports the article subject of proposed duty change.
 Commerce report:
o Not later than the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date of publication of the proposed
duty changes, Commerce, in consultation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other
relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance
Committees a report on each proposed duty change, with the following information:


Determination of whether or not domestic production of the article subject to proposed
duty change exists, and if such production exists, whether or not a domestic producer of
the article objects to the proposed duty change, and
Any technical changes to the article description.
Sec. 4: Report on Effects of Duty Suspensions and Reductions on U.S. Economy
 Not later than May 1, 2018, and May 1, 2020, the Commission shall submit to the House Ways and
Means and Senate Finance Committees a report on the effects on the U.S. economy of temporary duty
changes, including a broad assessment of the economic effects on producers, purchasers, and consumers
in the United States, using case studies describing such effects on selected industries or by type of
article.
 The Commission shall also solicit and append to the report recommendations with respect to those
domestic industry sectors or specific domestic industries that might benefit from permanent duty
suspensions and reductions or elimination of duties, either through a unilateral action of the United
States or through negotiations for reciprocal tariff agreements, with a particular focus on inequities
created by tariff inversions.