Obama Signs Law to Suspend Duties on Imports of Products Not Made in U.S.
President Barack Obama today signed into law legislation to suspend import duties on some products that aren’t made in the U.S.
The law will “strengthen American manufacturing,” Obama said at the White House. “While we’ve fought back from the worst of this recession, we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” he said.
There were 11.7 million Americans employed in manufacturing jobs in the U.S. in July of this year, according to the Labor Department, and gains in manufacturing hiring helped lead to an increase of 71,000 private-sector jobs last month.
Overall, unemployment fell by 131,000 workers in July, as temporary Census jobs ended, and the unemployment rate remained at 9.5 percent.
Suspending the tariffs will save U.S. companies $298 million over the next three years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The White House said the measure may support as many as 90,000 new jobs.
Products which will have import duties suspended include synthetic fibers, reusable grocery bags, chemicals, herbicides, microwaves and cashmere yarn.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page