17吃瓜在线

Policy and Legal

Policy and Legal

Why Congress Should Cook Up a New MTB

Kitchens across America are missing a key ingredient: a new Miscellaneous Tariff Bill.

What鈥檚 going on: SCHOTT North America鈥攁 subsidiary of the German specialty glass, glass ceramics and high-tech material manufacturer鈥攑roduces CERAN glass-ceramic cooktops at its facility in Vincennes, Indiana, where it employs more than 140 workers.

  • To manufacture the cooktops in Indiana, the company must first import 鈥済reen glass鈥濃攖he glass-ceramic material that is refined and finished for use in appliances鈥攚hich is not available in the U.S.
  • However, heavy import tariffs on green glass make it much costlier for SCHOTT to manufacture these cooktops in the U.S., while fully processed cooktop panels that are finished abroad and then imported are not taxed.

That鈥檚 why the 17吃瓜在线 is calling on Congress to pass a new MTB as soon as possible. Trade policies should help companies in the United States become more competitive, not less.

What鈥檚 the MTB? The MTB temporarily eliminates or reduces tariffs on more than 1,500 different products not available in the U.S. Congress typically renews the MTB every few years with bipartisan support, but the last MTB expired in December 2020, increasing costs for manufacturers nationwide.

  • For SCHOTT North America, the MTB鈥檚 expiration has led to significantly higher costs for the past three-and-a-half years.

Action needed: To help SCHOTT and other manufacturers in the same predicament, the 17吃瓜在线 has been urging lawmakers to pass the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Reform Act, which would renew the MTB through the end of 2025 and offer retroactive duty relief back to the beginning of 2021.

  • Since the lapse of the last MTB, manufacturers have paid more than $1.5 billion to get materials they cannot source in the U.S., according to an .
  • While SCHOTT North America has maintained its workforce at the Vincennes site, these growing costs have interfered with the company鈥檚 plans for expansion.
  • 鈥淲e employ about 140 people at the site to process green glass, but the potential is there to hire more and do more鈥 if an MTB were in place, said Tim Kiger, general manager for SCHOTT North America in Indiana.

No other options: Melting the specialty glass in the U.S. isn鈥檛 an option at this time, according to Jim Purcell, SCHOTT North America鈥檚 international trade compliance manager.

  • 鈥淧roducing green glass here in the United States would be incredibly expensive and technically difficult to do,鈥 he said. 鈥淭o build a melting operation in the U.S. would take a long time.鈥

A voice in Congress: Back in October, Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), whose district is home to the Vincennes facility, urged colleagues in the House Ways and Means Committee to advance a new MTB in the name of fairness.

  • 鈥淭he MTB ensures that American producers like SCHOTT are not penalized for importing inputs that are not produced in the United States, and levels the playing field against similar finished products being imported from China,鈥 said Rep. Bucshon.

The last word: SCHOTT North America hopes that the MTB legislation, which is sitting in the House, will soon be enacted.

  • The financial relief offered by a new MTB 鈥渨ould be almost immediate,鈥 Kiger said.
  • Added Purcell, 鈥淭he MTB is a good mechanism to 鈥 conserve savings. In the global market right now, any cost savings helps you stay competitive.鈥
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