President Signs ATPDEA Extension Bill Without GSP and MTB into Law

No GSP Extension or 2nd MTB Included in Enacted Bill

H.R. 6517 as signed into law by the President does not contain an extension of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program or a second Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (consisting of hundreds of temporary duty suspensions and reductions, technical corrections, and liquidations/reliquidations of certain entries)¹.

GSP for most beneficiary countries to expire on Dec 31. Since H.R. 6517 does not contain an extension, GSP for most beneficiary countries (A, A+, and A*), i.e., other than those listed as African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary countries, will lapse on December 31, 2010².

ATPA/ATPDEA Extension thru Feb 12 for Colombia, with Ecuador’s Conditional

H.R. 6517 extends the Andean Trade Preferences Act/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) through February 12, 2011 (from December 31, 2010) for Colombia. The extension for Ecuador is through February 12, 2011 (from December 31, 2010) unless the President reports to Congress that Ecuador does not satisfy ATPA/ATPDEA beneficiary criteria.

No ATPA/ATPDEA Extension for Peru (Has FTA)

H.R. 6517 does not extend ATPA/ATPDEA for Peru. As a result, ATPA/ATPDEA will expire for Peru on December 31, 2010.

(The U.S.-Peru FTA entered into force on February 1, 2009. On December 28, 2009, the President signed into law a one-year ATPA/ATPDEA extension through December 31, 2010 for Peru and other countries. See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/30/09 news, 09123005, for BP summary of the enactment of a one year extension of ATPA/ATPDEA for Peru.)

(Note that Bolivia was suspended from ATPA/ATPDEA eligibility as of December 15, 2008.)

ATPDEA TPL, Brassiere, Etc. Provisions in Effect Through Feb 12

The six week extension of ATPDEA only allows the ATPDEA regional fabric tariff preference level (TPL) and the ATPDEA brassiere provision to continue through February 12, 2011.

(While the regional fabric TPL and brassiere provision were previously extended through September 30, 2011, they cannot continue past the February 12, 2011 expiration date of ATPA/ATPDEA, unless the program is extended further.)

H.R. 6517 also extends through February 12, 2011 (from December 31, 2010) the authority for the President to take certain bilateral emergency tariff actions with respect to ATPDEA apparel.

In addition, H.R. 6517 annualizes the U.S. Trade Representative’s report on the ATPA/ATPDEA program, including beneficiary country compliance with eligibility criteria. (Currently, the reporting requirement is biennial.)

Six Week Extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance

H.R. 6517 would extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for six weeks until February 13, 2011 (from January 1, 2011). The bill would also make various other amendments to TAA. (See H.R. 6517 for complete details, including effective dates of TAA revisions.)

Funding to be Provided by Extension of MPF and Other Customs User Fees

Funding for H.R. 6517 is provided by an extension of the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and certain other Customs user fees and certain revisions to provisions on corporate estimated taxes.

¹H.R. 6517 as passed by the House on December 15, 2010 included a GSP extension and the second MTB.

²For AGOA beneficiary countries, both the GSP program (i.e., A, A*, and A+) and the AGOA-GSP program (i.e., D) remain in effect through September 30, 2015.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/17/10 news, 10121723, for BP summary detailing H.R. 6517 as passed by the House on December 15, 2010.

See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/27/10 news, 10122711, for BP summary of CBP’s instructions on the lapse of GSP, and the continued use of Special Program Indicators to facilitate any refunds resulting from any future retroactive renewal of the program.)

H.R. 6517 as passed by House and Senate on December 22, 2010 available here.