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| February 2nd, 2004 |
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Media Contact(s): Adam Elggren, 202.224.3370 |
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Printable Version |
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HATCH WINS EFFORT TO SAVE UTAH ARCHERY JOBS
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Washington — U. S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) led an effort today to preserve a provision in the transportation funding bill currently moving through the Senate that could save hundreds of Utah jobs in the archery industry. The provision would close a tax loophole that allows imported arrows to escape federal levies.
“We are very much at risk of losing hundreds of Utah jobs to Korea or China and we may even lose our entire domestic arrow industry if we do not close this unfair loophole,” said Hatch. “This situation has just been devastating for the American archery business — many jobs have already been lost.”
The tax loophole inadvertently allows importers of arrows to avoid paying the 12.4 percent excise tax paid by domestic manufacturers. Utah is one of the nation’s largest producers of archery products.
The amount of imported arrows has increased from just $1 million in 1998 to over $12 million in 2002, and projections for 2003 revealed a continuation of the trend. The provision was included in the transportation bill that passed the Senate Finance Committee, on which Hatch is the second-ranking Republican member.
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