New Senate Bill Would Renew GSP and ATPDEA thru June 30, 2012

GSP Expired December 31, 2010, ATPDEA Expired February 12, 2011

GSP for most beneficiary countries (A, A+, and A*), i.e., other than those listed as African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beneficiary countries, expired on December 31, 2010.

ATPA/ATPDEA for Colombia and Ecuador expired on February 12, 2011. (On December 29, 2010, the President signed into law a H.R. 6517, the Omnibus Trade Act, which extended ATPA/ATPDEA for Colombia and Ecuador through February 12, 2011, from its original expiration date of December 31, 2010. ATPA/ATPDEA was not extended for Peru; its eligibility expired on December 31, 2010 (Peru has a free trade agreement with the U.S.)

Would Renew GSP to June 30, 2012 and Allow Retroactive Refunds

S. 308 would renew the GSP program through June 30, 2012 effective for goods entered on or after the 15th day after the date of enactment. In addition:

Retroactive reinstatement. Goods entered¹ on or after January 1, 2011 (other than certain excluded sleeping bags, see below), but before the effective date, that would have qualified for GSP duty-free treatment had the entry been made before GSP expired, would be eligible to be liquidated or reliquidated as if the entry had been made after the bill’s effective date.

180 days for a refund request. A request for liquidation or reliquidation would be made with respect to an entry only if a request is filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment. The request must contain sufficient information to enable CBP to locate or reconstruct (if it cannot be located) the entry or withdrawal.

Refunds in 90 days. Any amounts owed by the U.S. pursuant to the liquidation or reliquidation of an eligible entry would be paid, without interest, not later than 90 days after the date of the liquidation or reliquidation.

Would Exclude Certain Sleeping Bags from GSP-Eligibility

Effective for goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on/after 15 days after the date of enactment, S. 308 would amend the list of articles that may not be designated as GSP-eligible articles to include sleeping bags in HTS 9404.30.80 except certain higher-value sleeping bags and sleeping bags kits. (See bill for details on this provision).

Senator has blocked GSP extension over sleeping bags. For the past few years, Senator Sessions’ (R) has placed a hold on legislation to extend GSP due to his opposition to GSP duty-free benefits for sleeping bags. In the 111^th Congress, Senator Sessions introduced legislation to remove sleeping bags from GSP-eligibility.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/20/10 news, 10122035, for BP summary of Senator Sessions’ opposition to GSP benefits for sleeping bags.

But opposition to this carve-out expected. Senate sources have indicated that there has been opposition to providing a “legislative carve-out” for sleeping bags. Trade experts have also stated that there would be opposition to such as a carve-out from the trade leadership in Congress, and that such a provision could make the entire bill a ‘non-starter.’

(In October 2010, the U.S. Trade Representative accepted for review in the 2010 GSP Annual Review, a petition to withdraw from GSP eligibility certain types of sleeping bags (HTS 9404.30.80). At the request of the USTR, the International Trade Commission is seeking comments for its related investigation. According to the USTR, any modifications to the list of articles eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP resulting from the 2010 Annual Review would be announced on or about June 30, 2011, and would take effect on the effective date announced.

In July 2010, the USTR denied a petition to remove GSP eligibility for the same type of sleeping bags (HTS 9404.30.80) as part of its 2009 GSP Annual Review. See ITT’s Online Archives or 07/02/10 and 04/21/10 news, 10070221 and 10042131, for BP summaries on the results of the 2009 GSP Annual Review and the ITC’s associated report.)

Trade sources also note that while there is opposition to a legislative carve-out, there may be less concern over any USTR action producing a similar result.

Would Renew ATPDEA for Colombia and Ecuador thru June 30, 2012

S. 308 would renew ATPDEA through June 30, 2012 for Colombia and Ecuador effective February 12, 2011. There does not appear to be a retroactive refund provision in the bill.

S. 308 also includes a one year extension of the ATPDEA regional fabric tariff preference level (TPL) and the ATPDEA brassiere provision. The bill would also extend through June 30, 2012 (from February 12, 2011) authority for the President to take certain bilateral emergency tariff actions with respect to ATPDEA apparel. (Note that although the regional fabric TPL and brassiere provision would be extended until September 30, 2012, they would expire on June 30, 2012 if ATPA/ATPDEA is not further extended beforehand.)

Ways and Means Chair Introduced Bill to Reinstate ATPDEA thru June 30, 2011

On February 10, 2011, Representative Camp (R), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced a bill (H.R. 622) to reinstate ATPDEA through June 30, 2011. H.R. 622 is not currently on the House schedule for the week of February 14, 2011; however, it could be added to this week’s schedule at a later date. (See future issue of ITT for details of H.R. 622.)

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

Funding for S. 308 would be 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.

¹includes a withdrawal from warehouse for consumption.

(See ITT’s Online Archives or 02/10/11 and 02/11/11 news, 11021116, for BP summary on the failed attempt on February 10, 2011 to extend ATPDEA.

See ITT’s Online Archives or 02/10/11 news, 11021039, for BP summary on the

ITT’s Online Archives or 01/04/11 and 12/27/10 news, 11010418 and 10122711, for BP summary of CBP’s instructions on GSP’s expiration.)

Senator Casey's press release available here.