USTR Announces Results of 2008 GSP Annual Review That are Effective July 1, 2009, Etc.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a press release announcing the outcome of the 2008 Generalized System of Preferences Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review (2008 Annual GSP Review).
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(The GSP program, in 2008, facilitated $31.7 billion in imports of nearly 5,000 types of products from 131 developing countries.
The U.S. conducts an annual review of the countries covered under the GSP program and products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under the program. The statute includes commercial thresholds and waiver provisions regarding imports of products. Interested parties also file petitions seeking changes in the treatment of countries and products. )
12 Country/Tariff Number Pairs to Lose GSP on July 1
As a result of their success under the GSP program and consistent with statutory provisions concerning product competitiveness, the USTR has determined that the following 12 products from six beneficiary countries are now sufficiently competitive in the U.S. market and are to be removed from GSP eligibility effective July 1, 2009:
| HTS No. | Country | Brief Description |
| 1604.15.00 | Thailand | Prepared or preserved mackerel, whole or in pieces, but not minced |
| 2804.29.00 | Ukraine | Rare gases, other than argon |
| 2819.1000 | Turkey | Chromium trioxide |
| 2918.99.30 | India | Aromatic drugs derived from carboxylic acids with additional oxygen function, and their derivatives, nesoi1 |
| 2933.59.59 | India | Nonaromatic drugs of heterocyclic compounds nesoi, with nitrogen hetero-atom(s) only, cont. a pyrimidine or piperazine ring |
| 3824.90.40 | Argentina | Fatty substances of animal or vegetable origin and mixtures thereof, nesoi |
| 3907.60.00 | Indonesia | Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin in primary forms |
| 3920.59.10 | India | Nonadhesive plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, noncellular, not combined with other materials, of acrylic polymers, flexible, nesoi |
| 7113.11.50 | India | Silver articles of jewelry and parts thereof, nesoi, valued over $18 per dozen pieces or parts |
| 7907.00.20 | India | Zinc, tubes or pipes and fittings for tubes or pipes |
| 8607.19.03 | Ukraine | Parts of railway/tramway locomotives/rolling stock, axles |
| 8708.50.79 | India | Parts & accessories of motor vehicles for transport of persons of 8703, parts of non-driving axles |
Certain Frozen Potatoes and Spinach to be Newly Eligible on July 1st
The following products are newly eligible for GSP duty-free treatment from any beneficiary country. These products will become eligible for duty-free export into the U.S. beginning on July 1, 2009:
| HTS No. | Brief Description |
| 0710.10.00 | Potatoes, uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water, frozen |
| 0710.30.00 | Spinach, New Zealand spinach and orache spinach (garden spinach), uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water, frozen |
CNL Waiver Revoked for One Country/Tariff Number Pair, But Product Added to "Not Produced in U.S." List
The competitive need limitation (CNL) waiver has been revoked for the following country/tariff number pair, pursuant to amendments to the GSP program enacted in 2006 which allow the President to revoke a CNL waiver that has been in effect for at least five years, if certain thresholds are met:
| HTS No. | Country | Brief Description |
| 7202.50.00 | Kazakhstan | Ferrosilicon Chromium |
However, ferrosilicon chromium (7202.50.00) from any beneficiary country has been added to the list of products "not produced in the U.S.," pursuant to section 503(c)(1)(E), meaning that such ferrosilicon chromium is exempt from the 50% import share CNL2.
(Note that the CNL waiver for miniature (spray) carnations, fresh cut from Colombia (0603.12.30) were considered but not revoked pursuant to the 2006 law.)
De Minimis Waivers Granted for 109 Pairs
The USTR has granted de minimis waivers that will prevent 109 country/tariff number pairs from being excluded from the GSP program because they exceed statutory import ceilings. (See results for list.)
Re-Designation for 142 Pairs Denied
The USTR has denied the re-designation of 142 country/tariff number pairs that were without GSP benefits and were eligible for possible re-designation based on 2008 trade data (i.e., imports in 2008 did not exceed the CNLs) and consideration of certain statutory guidelines. (See results for list.)
Decisions on Whether to Withdraw or Limit a Country's GSP Benefits
The GSP 2008 Annual Review also involved an analysis of petitions to withdraw or limit a country's GSP benefits for not meeting GSP eligibility criteria. These criteria include the extent to which a country provides adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and whether a country is taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to workers in that country.
Several beneficiaries remain under active scrutiny because of such concerns, including: Lebanon, Russia and Uzbekistan regarding IPR protection, and Bangladesh, Niger, the Philippines and Uzbekistan regarding worker rights. (See USTR's results for country practice review information.)
1nesoi stands for "not elsewhere specified or included".
2There are two types of CNLs - the value CNL (which is $135 million for 2008) and the 50% CNL (equal to or greater than 50% of the 2009 value of total U.S. imports of the tariff number from all countries). Once either limit is reached, trade is considered "competitive" and imports of the article automatically become ineligible for GSP treatment, unless a waiver is granted.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 03/06/09 news, 09030610, for BP summary of the USTR listing the country/tariff number pairs that may lose/gain GSP on July 1st due to CNLs.
See ITT's Online Archives or 01/28/09 news, 09012815, for BP summary of CNL waiver petitions accepted and country practice petitions under evaluation for 2008 GSP Annual Review.
See ITT's Online Archives or 09/15/08 news, 08091505, for BP summary of the product and country practice petitions filed/ongoing and accepted for 2008 GSP Annual Review.)
USTR press release (dated 06/30/09) available at http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/press-releases/2009/june/obama-administration-completes-2008-annual-review-gen
USTR results available at http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/1174