Grassley Says Additional Tariff Deferrals Could Be Considered

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., agree that revisiting the tariff deferral for importers with lost revenue could be worthwhile for Congress. Both were responding to questions from International Trade Today on May 12, during conference calls with reporters. Grassley said, “It sounds like something we ought to be looking into.” Some other Republican senators have also offered support for the idea (see 2005050045)

Sewell, who's on the House Ways and Means Committee, said several members of the committee have suggested that the U.S. extend the tariff deferral program. “We have given lots of leeway” to the Treasury Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, she said, but said that Congress could include it in a future relief package if enough members prioritize it. “I continue to fight for it, and I am supportive generally” of giving businesses the opportunity to have cash flow right away through this delay in paying import taxes. It is not in the bill under consideration in the House.

She noted that while the House is expected to pass that bill soon, the Senate is saying it's time to take a pause and see how the previous rounds are going. “What we are not doing is sitting back and waiting for things to get worse,” she said.

The now expired deferral program offered by the Treasury applied to entries in March and April (see 2004300048). About 1,000 importers deferred payment of $72 million of regular customs duties under the program, said Thomas Overacker, CBP executive director, Cargo and Conveyance Security, while speaking on the virtual National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones conference on May 12.