Note to MTB Petitioners Regarding Article Descriptions

On October 11, 2019, the U.S. International Trade Commission began accepting petitions seeking temporary duty suspensions and reductions in accordance with the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 (AMCA).

Commission staff members noticed during the 2016 cycle that many of the petitions filed contained article descriptions that were deficient and that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may not have been able to administer (i.e., they were not “administrable”).

To help petitioners avoid these problems in the 2019 cycle, Commission staff have created educational information. Click the following link for a list of deficiencies staff have encountered and for examples of properly and improperly worded article descriptions:

+ Crafting an Article Description for Your MTB Petition

If you are a petitioner:

Commission staff may, if time and resources permit, contact you to alert you to possible deficiencies in your article descriptions.  

In most cases, the only way for you to modify an article description is to withdraw the original petition and file a new petition that includes a corrected article description.       

It is important for you to file petitions well before the 60-day filing deadline on December 10, for two reasons: (1) to allow Commission staff time for review, and (2) to give yourself time enough to file a new petition if needed. Under the statute, the Commission cannot accept any new or refiled petitions after 5:15 pm on December 10, 2019. Nor can the Commission itself make changes to article descriptions, other than to make certain technical corrections or to address an objection by a U.S. producer of the article.

The longer you wait to file,  the less likely it is that Commission staff will have enough time to find any problems in your petitions, and the less time you will have to file a new petition with a corrected article description before the legal deadline. This is particularly true if there is a surge in the number of petitions filed late in the filing period.

The Commission urges you to review the document linked above (“Crafting an Article Description for Your MTB Petition”). Questions? Email mtbinfo@usitc.gov or call 202-205-3238.