MSCI, NAM, Other Organizations Ask For Legislative Fix To USMCA

On July 7, the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) joined the National Association of Manufacturers and dozens of other organizations to send a letter to the leaders of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance asking that federal lawmakers enact a legislative fix to language in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act that, if uncorrected, will result in the payment of millions of dollars of fees on imports into the United States.

In what the letter called a “drafting error,” Section 205 of the USMCA Implementation Act, would allow companies to claim refunds of the merchandise processing fee at the time of entry, but precludes companies from making a post-importation claim for such refunds. Other U.S. free trade agreements allow companies to file a post-importation claim for refunds.

The letter, which is available here, said “Our organizations are committed to the successful implementation of the USMCA, which will help manufacturers and other businesses grow in the United States, compete globally and support millions of well-paying jobs across the country as we lead our economic recovery and renewal. A timely fix to the merchandise processing fee drafting error in the USMCA Implementation Act is critical to enabling this success given the substantial number of post-importation preference claims that we expect will be filed in the coming months.”