WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts and U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) today introduced a bill to temporarily suspend a five percent tariff on imported digital converters doing away with contradictory federal policy that raises the cost of the boxes affecting lower income analog customers.
"Despite the good intentions of Congress to bring down the cost to the consumer given the mandatory switch to digital television, the tariffs imposed are counterintuitive," Senator Roberts says. "Our bill will keep consumers, particularly those in rural areas and from lower income brackets, from being forced to shoulder a greater financial burden unnecessarily."
At issue is the mandatory digital television switch from analog to digital signal transmission by February 2009. Consumers who do not subscribe to satellite or cable services or who own older analog TV sets must obtain a converter box to receive television signals after the transition. Converter boxes can cost anywhere between $40-$70. To help defray this cost for consumers, Congress approved two $40 coupons per household as part of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act. However, in December 2007, U.S. Customs and Border Protection imposed a new five percent import tax on converter boxes.
The bill temporarily waives the five percent duty on imported converter boxes.
Senator Roberts is a key member of the Senate Committee on Finance which has jurisdiction on trade.
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