Title: Tariff Inversion Jobs Act of 2017
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
Tariff Inversion Jobs Act of 2017
This bill directs the U.S. International Trade Commission to submit to Congress a report that: (1) identifies tariff inversions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) that create an incentive for U.S. companies to move production out of the United States, and (2) includes recommendations for measures that could be taken to eliminate such inversions.
Tariff inversions occur when the duty rate for the final product is lower than the duty rate of the component parts.
The bill amends the HTS to provide for the duty-free treatment of flat panel displays and main boards for televisions.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2385 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2385

To address tariff inversions that create an incentive for United States 
companies to move production out of the United States, to eliminate the 
   tariff inversion on certain television components, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2017

 Mr. Paulsen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To address tariff inversions that create an incentive for United States 
companies to move production out of the United States, to eliminate the 
   tariff inversion on certain television components, 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 ``Tariff Inversion Jobs Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON TARIFF INVERSIONS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) it is a national imperative of the United States to 
        encourage economic production and jobs in the United States;
            (2) the United States should not be creating incentives to 
        encourage United States companies to move production from the 
        United States to other countries;
            (3) situations in which tariffs on inputs for a product are 
        higher than on the final product, commonly referred to as 
        tariff inversions, can have the effect of encouraging United 
        States companies to move production out of the United States;
            (4) a tariff inversion exists with respect to the 
        production of televisions in the United States, since the 
        tariff on panels carries a tariff of 4.5 percent and the tariff 
        on the main board carries a tariff of 2.1 percent, but the 
        final product, televisions assembled in Mexico and exported to 
        the United States, enter the United States duty free;
            (5) rectifying tariff inversions is entirely within the 
        prerogative of the United States;
            (6) it should be the policy of the United States to 
        eliminate tariff inversions that create an incentive to 
        offshore production, including the tariff inversion regarding 
        televisions; and
            (7) such a policy would help keep jobs in the United 
        States, ensure more United States citizens are employed, 
        strengthen United States competitiveness, and build a stronger 
        country.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON TARIFF INVERSIONS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the United States International Trade Commission shall submit to 
Congress a report on tariff inversions in the Harmonized Tariff 
Schedule of the United States that includes--
            (1) an identification of tariff inversions that create an 
        incentive for United States companies to move production out of 
        the United States; and
            (2) recommendations for measures that could be taken to 
        eliminate such tariff inversions.

SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF DUTY ON PANELS AND MAIN BOARDS FOR TELEVISIONS.

    (a) Main Boards.--Chapter 85 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States is amended--
            (1) by inserting in numerical sequence the following new 
        subheading, with the article description for subheading 
        8529.90.11 having the same degree of indentation as the article 
        description for subheading 8529.90.09:


``     8529.90.11          For television           Free                .................  35%                ''
                            receivers.............                                                             ;

        and
            (2) by redesignating subheading 8529.90.13 as subheading 
        8529.90.14.
    (b) Panels.--Chapter 90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 
United States is amended by striking subheading 9013.80.70 and 
inserting the following new subheading, with the article description 
for subheading 9013.80.71 having the same degree of indentation as the 
article description for subheading 9013.80.40:


``       9013.80.71       Flat panel displays  Free                 ...................  45%                  ''
                           other than for                                                                      .
                           articles of
                           heading 8528,
                           except subheadings
                           8528.52 or
                           8528.62, and
                           except for flat
                           panel displays for
                           use solely or
                           principally with
                           television
                           receivers of
                           subheading 8528.72

    (c) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
        apply with respect to articles entered on or after January 1, 
        2014.
            (2) Retroactive application for certain liquidations and 
        reliquidations.--
                    (A) In general.--Notwithstanding section 514 of the 
                Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1514) or any other 
                provision of law and subject to subparagraph (B), any 
                entry of an article classifiable under subheading 
                8529.90.11 or 9013.80.71 of the Harmonized Tariff 
                Schedule of the United States, as added by this 
                section, that was made--
                            (i) on or after January 1, 2014; and
                            (ii) before the date of the enactment of 
                        this Act,
                shall be liquidated or reliquidated as though such 
                entry occurred on such date of enactment.
                    (B) Requests.--A liquidation or reliquidation may 
                be made under subparagraph (A) with respect to an entry 
                only if a request therefor is filed with U.S. Customs 
                and Border Protection not later than 180 days after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act that contains 
                sufficient information to enable U.S. Customs and 
                Border Protection--
                            (i) to locate the entry; or
                            (ii) to reconstruct the entry if it cannot 
                        be located.
                    (C) Payment of amounts owed.--Any amounts owed by 
                the United States pursuant to the liquidation or 
                reliquidation of an entry of an article under 
                subparagraph (A) shall be paid, without interest, not 
                later than 90 days after the date of the liquidation or 
                reliquidation (as the case may be).
                    (D) Entry defined.--In this paragraph, the term 
                ``entry'' includes a withdrawal from warehouse for 
                consumption.
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