WASHINGTON, D.C. (BRAIN)—The House of Representatives passed a miscellaneous tariffs bill on Wednesday that would extend temporary duty suspensions on bicycle tubing, speedometers, road and hydraulic disc brakes and certain rims and cranks.
The legislation passed on a 378-43 vote with bipartisan support from 249 Democrats and 129 Republicans.
The bill now moves to the Senate.
Congress first enacted the suspensions in 2006 and they expired last Dec. 31. The House version of the MTB includes a provision making it retroactive to Jan. 1.
Without the extension, import tariffs on hydraulic brakes increase to 10 percent, duties on steel bike tubing and bicycle speedometers rise to 6 percent, cranksets and parts go up 3.9 percent and rims go up 3.1 percent.
The MTB also includes extensions of duty suspensions for ski and snowboard equipment and footwear.
The Outdoor Industry Association and its members played a pivotal role in getting the MTB passed, contacting dozens of House offices over the last several days to encourage votes in favor of the legislation, said Frank Hugelmeyer, president and CEO of Outdoor Industry Association
“OIA and our member companies are extremely pleased by today’s vote in the House,” Hugelmeyer said.
“The MTB has several provisions extending duty suspensions on footwear and other outdoor products that over the last three years have saved outdoor companies more than $21 million. Those savings have allowed companies to reinvest in their businesses, invest in innovation, expand employment opportunities and lower retail costs for their customers.
In addition, the duty suspensions have actually increased exports of U.S made components for these outdoor products. This is a win for both American businesses and the outdoor consumer.”
The OIA is pushing the Senate to hear the bill as quickly as possible, preferably before they adjourn for the August recess next Thursday.
—Nicole Formosa
nformosa@bicycleretailer.com
