234 Companies Push Congress to Renew GSP Before July 31 Expiration
More than 230 companies and business groups from across the U.S. urged lawmakers to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program before its July 31 expiration, saying a lag in the program would mean $2 million a day in new import taxes, in a June 17 letter to Congress. “As you consider the upcoming legislative agenda, we urge you to make the renewal of the GSP program a priority before Congress adjourns for the August work period,” said the letter, spearheaded by the Coalition for GSP and sent to leaders on the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. (Read the letter here.) If Congress does not renew GSP before the July 31 deadline, tariffs will take effect August 1. On August 2, Congress adjourns for a month-long recess.
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When GSP was last renewed in 2011, it enjoyed “strong bipartisan support,” said the letter, signed by global powers such as General Electric and Coca-Cola as well as small business and trade associations. When the program expired at the end of 2010, these businesses faced higher import taxes for more than 10 months, the letter said. “To compensate for these unexpected costs, some employers were forced to freeze salaries, eliminate benefits, delay capital investments, and even lay off workers. American businesses -- particularly small businesses -- cannot afford for GSP [to] expire again.” The program was renewed retroactively in 2011, but the lag between GSP renewals, and the uncertainty it sparks, still harms businesses, industry stakeholders previously said (see 13051413).
“After the expiration in 2011, companies fully understand what GSP expiration could mean,” said Daniel Anthony, research director at the Coalition for GSP, in a press release (here). “The diverse companies on this letter show that every part of the country would feel the negative impacts if Congress allows GSP to expire.”