House Passes Bill to Extend GSP and ATPA for One Year
On December 14, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4284, a bill to extend the Generalized System of Preferences and Trade Preference Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) through December 31, 2010, by a voice vote.
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According to trade sources, the Senate is also expected to pass H.R. 4284, and the Obama Administration has already voiced support for such a measure.
GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA Would be Extended for One Year, Without Change
H.R. 4284 would extend GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA, without change, through December 31, 2010.
For ATPA/ATPDEA, the extension would apply to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, the ATPDEA regional fabric tariff preference level (TPL), and the ATPDEA brassiere provision. H.R. 4284 would also extend through December 31, 2010 (from December 31, 2009) authority for the President to take certain bilateral emergency tariff actions with respect to ATPDEA apparel.
(H.R. 4284 would fund the GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA extensions by extending the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and certain other Customs user fees for 3-4 months. H.R. 4284 would also make certain revisions to provisions on corporate estimated taxes in Section 202(b) of the Corporate Estimated Tax Shift Act of 2009.)
Deadline for Next ATPA/ATPDEA Biennial Report Moved Up by 10 Months
According to a House Ways and Means Committee press release, the U.S. Trade Representative is currently required to review of the operation of the ATPA/ATPDEA program, including compliance with eligibility criteria, and submit a report biennially to Congress. H.R. 4284 would move up the deadline for the next report to June 30, 2010 (from April 30, 2011).
House Ways and Means to Work on Comprehensive Preference Program Reform Next Year
Representative Levin (D), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Trade Subcommittee has stated that since the House has passed a GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA extension, the next step is to undertake a comprehensive review of all aspects of the preference programs. Levin states that this includes considering how well existing eligibility criteria are working and whether improvements or additions are needed (for example, with regard to the environment) and whether all the nations that need assistance are getting it.
According to Levin, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Trade Subcommittee will be taking a careful look at all of those questions next year, holding hearings, and working closely with the Administration.
(GSP (i.e., A, A*, and A) for most beneficiary countries, i.e., other than those listed as African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary countries, is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2009, unless a law extending it is enacted. Similarly, the ATPA/ATPDEA is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2009 (for Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador).
For AGOA beneficiary countries, both the GSP program (i.e., A, A*, and A) and the AGOA-GSP program (i.e., D) expire on a later date - September 30, 2015.)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 12/14/09 news, 09121405, for BP summary of the introduction of H.R. 4284.
See ITT's Online Archives or 11/18/09 news, 09111805, for BP summary of the Administration's expression of support for GSP and ATPA/ATPDEA renewal.
See ITT's Online Archives or 11/20/09 news, 09112010, for BP summary of recently introduced House trade reform bill which would modify GSP and AGOA, create new preference program, etc.)
House Ways and Means press release on H.R. 4284 (dated 12/14/09) available by emailing documents@brokerpower.com.
H.R. 4284 available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h4284ih.txt.pdf.