[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1162 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1162

    To authorize the International Trade Commission to develop and 
recommend legislation for temporarily suspending duties, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 9, 2011

 Mr. DeMint (for himself and Mrs. McCaskill) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the International Trade Commission to develop and 
recommend legislation for temporarily suspending duties, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Removing Hurdles for American 
Manufacturers Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to provide a procedure for the 
development and submission of legislation by the International Trade 
Commission regarding amendments to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States in connection with the temporary suspension or 
reduction of duty.

SEC. 3. PROCEDURES FOR RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSED LEGISLATION 
              RELATING TO TEMPORARY DUTY SUSPENSIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than January 1, 2012, and every 2 years 
thereafter, the International Trade Commission shall submit to the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means 
of the House of Representatives proposed legislation which includes 
recommendations regarding the following:
            (1) Amendments to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
        United States extending existing temporary duty suspensions or 
        existing duty reductions.
            (2) Amendments to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
        United States providing for new temporary duty suspensions or 
        new duty reductions.
            (3) Modifications to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
        United States to make technical corrections with respect to--
                    (A) errors in spelling, numbering, or punctuation;
                    (B) errors in indentation;
                    (C) errors in cross references to headings, 
                subheadings, or notes;
                    (D) errors in article descriptions; and
                    (E) other clerical or typographical errors.
    (b) Agency and Public Views Regarding Recommendations.--In 
formulating recommendations and proposed legislation under subsection 
(a), the International Trade Commission shall solicit, and give 
consideration to, the views of interested Federal agencies and the 
public. The Commission shall--
            (1) give notice of the proposed recommendations, afford 
        reasonable opportunity for interested parties to present their 
        views in writing; and
            (2) provide for a public hearing.
    (c) Requirements for Duty Suspension and Reduction.--The Commission 
may not recommend in the proposed legislation under subsection (a) any 
suspension or reduction in duty, if--
            (1) an interested Federal agency determines such suspension 
        or reduction is not in the interest of United States and that 
        determination is included in the record of the public hearing 
        required under subsection (b);
            (2) such suspension or reduction is objected to by a 
        domestic producer who demonstrates that there is domestic 
        production of the article for which suspension or reduction of 
        duty is recommended in commercially available quantities;
            (3) the loss in revenue to the United States from such 
        suspension or reduction of duty exceeds $500,000 annually (as 
        adjusted under subsection (f)); or
            (4) the suspension or reduction in duty is to be effective 
        for a period that exceeds 3 years.
    (d) Submission of Proposed Legislation and Recommendations.--
            (1) Legislation.--Any proposed legislation submitted under 
        subsection (a), shall include the following information, if 
        appropriate--
                    (A) the heading or subheading number of the 
                Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to be 
                added or amended;
                    (B) the Chemical Abstract Service or CAS number;
                    (C) the article description and duty rates for each 
                of the headings or subheadings described in 
                subparagraph (A); and
                    (D) any other information that is necessary to 
                carry out the proposed legislation, including the 
                requirements described in subsection (c).
            (2) Recommendations.--Along with the proposed legislation 
        submitted under subsection (a), the International Trade 
        Commission shall submit--
                    (A) a summary of the information on which the 
                recommendation is based; and
                    (B) a summary of the views submitted by interested 
                Federal agencies, the public, and other interested 
                parties.
    (e) Publication in the Federal Register.--Not later than 60 days 
before the Commission submits the proposed legislation under subsection 
(a), the Commission shall publish the proposed legislation in the 
Federal Register.
    (f) Indexing for Inflation.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning in calendar year 2013, the 
        dollar amount described in subsection (c)(3) shall be increased 
        by an amount equal to--
                    (A) $500,000, multiplied by
                    (B) the percentage (if any) by which the CPI for 
                the preceding calendar year exceeds the CPI for 
                calendar year 2011.
            (2) Rounding.--Any increase under paragraph (1)(B) shall be 
        rounded to the nearest dollar.
            (3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) CPI for the preceding calendar year.--The term 
                ``CPI for the preceding calendar year'' means the 
                average of the Consumer Price Index as of the close of 
                the 12-month period ending on August 31 of such 
                calendar year.
                    (B) Consumer price index.--The term ``Consumer 
                Price Index'' means the last Consumer Price Index for 
                all-urban consumers published by the Department of 
                Labor.
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