A Quiet Break for Corporations

Neal returned the next day to introduce a final bill for what he described simply as "certain . . . inflatable balls other than basketballs and volleyballs."

Each change is supposed to be reviewed before passage by analysts at the trade commission. The analysts found that each of Neal's six bills would result in annual revenue losses that fell just below or somewhat above the guideline. Added together, however, the bills could cost $3.7 million a year.

In an interview, Neal said he was unaware of how much the bills would cost taxpayers, but he added, "I think it's really negligible."

The bills mention no beneficiaries, but Neal said he was asked to sponsor the suspensions by Spalding, a sporting goods maker in Springfield, Mass. "For a company in my district, I was happy to help," Neal said.

Neal's legislative director, Peg McGlinch, acknowledged that multiple bills were filed to avoid violating the $500,000 guideline. "That's why they split it up," she said. An aide on the Ways and Means Committee confirmed: "We advise people to do it that way."

Bryan Wolfe, customs director for Russell Corp., Spalding's parent company, said the tariff reductions would benefit a number of U.S. importers and would not hurt American manufacturers because most inflatable balls are made in China.

Provisions covering four types of balls were rolled into the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which President Bush signed into law on Aug. 17. The other bills remain pending.

There are many similar examples. Shoes of various stripes are the subject of at least 19 tariff-suspension bills. Payless ShoeSource Inc., listed as the proponent of the bills, did not respond to phone messages.

David Beck, acting director of the trade commission's tariffs office in Washington, said analysts have noticed the strategy. "Depending on how you look at it, it might not pass the sniff test," Beck said. He said Congress has been "pretty liberal on it."

Overseas Winners

No government agency has calculated the economic impact of the tariff suspensions. Some corporations acknowledge keeping some or most of the savings, but many say consumers also benefit.

"Any ability we have to eliminate a 1 to 3 percent tariff and save a couple pennies for our consumers, we think is important," said Wal-Mart lobbyist Angela Marshall Hofmann, who previously helped oversee the process as an aide for the Senate Finance Committee.

Hofmann has written to lawmakers that Wal-Mart supports 41 current tariff-suspension bills but that "it is our understanding that these products are not manufactured in any commercially viable manner in the United States."