The Vinyl Institute has sent a letter signed by 207 companies and industry groups to Congress asking for tariff relief.
The April 26 letter asks government leaders to include the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) in the final manufacturing competitiveness legislation that combines the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act with the America COMPETES Act.
"In this high-inflation economy, passing the MTB will help reduce the cost of some additives that are necessary to manufacture vinyl products consumers rely on every day," VI Government Affairs Vice President Kevin Koonce said in a news release.
"This is an opportunity for Congress to support jobs, manufacturing competitiveness and economic growth in the United States by removing an artificial price hike — and they should make the repeal retroactive," he added.
If approved, the MTB would temporarily remove or reduce anti-competitive tariffs on goods that are not made domestically or are not available in sufficient quantities in the U.S., VI officials in Washington said in the release. The last MTB expired Dec. 31, 2020.
Materials firms signing the letter include Arkema Inc., BASF Corp., Celanese Corp., Dow Inc., DuPont Co., Eastman Chemical Co., EMS-Chemie North America Inc., Evonik Corp., Lanxess Corp., Milliken & Co., Solvay America Inc. and Zeon Specialty Materials Inc. All of the firms are involved in the PVC value chain. The letter also is signed by the Plastics Industry Association, the Plastics Pipe Institute and the U.S. Tire Manufacters Association.
PVC makers Formosa Plastics Corp. USA, Westlake Corp., Shintech Inc. and Oxy Vinyls LP are members of VI.
VI is a U.S. trade organization representing manufacturers of vinyl, vinyl chloride monomer, and vinyl additives and modifiers.