Sen. Portman Urges MTB Revamp

Sen. Robert Portman (R-Ohio) continued to push back against the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) process, urging lawmakers to approve legislation that would have the International Trade Commission lead the process rather than Congress. Portman wrote about the issue Dec. 14 in his weekly column on his Website. The MTB, typically passed by every congress to suspend tariffs on certain products, has faced recent objections over whether MTB violates a congressional ban on earmarks.

(See ITT's Online Archives 12061429 for summary of Portman's MTB bill.)

The MTB differs from other types of legislation and needs reform, said Portman. "With any other kind of legislation, members of Congress generally get expert advice before they introduce bills," he said. "With the current MTB process, they get it only after. It is only after the individual MTB has been introduced that our federal trade agencies are asked to review the request and see if there are U.S. businesses being harmed. This is one reason the current earmark ban in the U.S. Senate applies to MTBs." Portman's bill allows any member of the public to propose an MTB to the ITC, "taking away the need for lobbyists," he said. "Members of Congress will still be able to submit MTBs if they would like, but they won’t receive preferential treatment."