Sunlight Foundation’s Ryan Sibley has uncovered dramatic new numbers that point to the increasingly high profile of Miscellaneous Tariff Bills (MTBs) in Congress and shine additional light on a long obscured area of influence-peddling, as highlighted in this April 16 Beltway Confidential post.
Sibley examined Senate lobbying records and found that at least 71 companies have spent an estimated $14 million lobbying members of Congress for specific MTBs. Another nine firms have registered to lobby for MTBs but have not yet reported expenditures on those efforts.
“The last time Congress passed a miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB), in 2010, it generated an estimated $660 million in tariff savings over three years for companies that buy products included in the bill. However, it cost the taxpayers $298 million in lost revenue over that same span, according to the Congressional Budget Office,” Sibley claims in a report posted today on the Sunlight Foundation blog.
Senators and Representatives have until tonight to submit MTB requests to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont, or House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-MI. After culling through the requests, the two panels will jointly send MTBs they approve to the International Trade Commission for further review.
An MTB is typically introduced by an individual senator or representative on behalf of a company seeking a reduction in U.S. tariffs on materials bought overseas for use in producing products in this country. The reducations are usually for three to five years, but it is not uncommon for them to be extended multiple times following their initial approval.
Legislative leaders are expected to secure passage of such a bill in the 112th Congress despite the intense partisan wrangling that has created endless legislative logjams.
If the new MTB bill is passed, the data reported by Sibley suggest it will likely approach or establish a new record for both the total number of MTBs included and their total value.
“In 2004, Congress passed an MTB with 433 tariff suspensions. Two years later, the MTB that passed two years later suspended duties on 280 products and generated a tariff savings of about $660 million for corporations according to a study conducted by Capital Trade, Incorporated, an economic consulting firm that focuses on international trade,” Sibley said. “But later that year, Congress approved a second bill suspending duties on another 580 products.
“During the 111th Congress, which ran from 2009 through 2010, lobbying records on file with the Senate show 192 companies with $385 million in lobbying expenses on tariff issues. Of that amount, $205 million was spent in the final six months before passage of H.R. 4380, the United States Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010. The bill included duty suspensions on 665 products, benefiting 113 corporations, according to data provided by the House Ways and Means committee.”
Among the most active MTB sponsors is Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-MO, who, according to Sibley, submitted 28 requests to suspend duties on products for German pharmacuetical firm Bayer.
“All but three made it into law. Overall, Bayer got a remarkable 62 duty suspensions from 15 members of Congress, making the German drug manufacturer the top beneficiary of the bill. Mary Petrovic, Rep. Cleaver’s press secretary, defended the support, noting that Bayer employs a number of people in his home district in Missouri.
“Bayer and its subsidiaries spent $8.3 million lobbying the bill and other issues in 2009 and 2010 according to records disclosed with the Senate. The corporation has reported spending $7.2 lobbying the issue and others this session so far.”
Critics of MTBs point to the campaign contributions Cleaver has received over the years from Bayer executives and family members, including $2,000 so far during the current election cycle.
Sibley’s entire report can be read here.
