editorials

With the national unemployment rate still at an alarming 9.5 percent, it's common sense that politicians back up grand talk about job growth by supporting policies that actually help the companies that do the hiring.

Unfortunately, common sense seems in short supply when it comes to an important but little-known piece of legislation called the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB), which helps keep manufacturing jobs in the United States. The MTB comes up for renewal periodically, and in previous years -- most recently 2006 -- it garnered broad bipartisan support. But this year, its routine passage is jeopardized primarily because Republicans have recently redefined the term "earmark," political slang for directing appropriations to favored programs or projects.

Republicans' anti-earmark zeal has put them in the position of opposing a measure backed by many of their traditional corporate allies. Contacted about the tariff bill, U.S. Reps. John Kline and Michele Bachmann, two well-known Minnesota Republican earmark opponents, said the priority should be on trade agreements, not on limited help for a select few.

"... Congress should provide access to new markets for U.S. goods and services, including manufacturing products, by first taking steps to advance pending trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. These trade agreements will assist industries across the board rather than earmarking them for certain companies,'' said Kline, who represents the state's Second District.

But it doesn't need to be an either/or question. Trade agreements can be pursued at the same time the MTB is renewed, as it should be. The MTB doesn't provide special protections; it levels the playing field for U.S. firms. Many foreign firms enjoy similar breaks in their home countries. And the process by which companies lobby for exemptions has become more transparent. Moreover, $500,000 is the maximum duty-free treatment for each product, meaning the uncollected revenue from the bill's 600 listed materials is relatively small -- an estimated $300 million out of the $23.5 billion in duties paid in annually.

Minnesota Democrat Rep. Tim Walz is among those pushing for the MTB's passage. The bill is critical not only because it will help manufacturers, he said, but because it will shore up confidence among business leaders. Uncertainties about the future are only exacerbated when routine business such as the MTB gets hung up, Walz said. That hinders hiring and investing. "At the end of day, it means they can't grow as much as they'd like, and that means somebody doesn't get to go to work tomorrow.''