Senate GSP Bill Targets Travel Good Duty Removal
Senators Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., introduced on Dec. 17 the Generalized System of Preferences Update for Production Diversification and Trade Enhancement (UPDATE) Act (S-1839). The bill would remove “import sensitive” status for travel goods, such as luggage, backpacks and handbags, and enable those goods to enter the U.S. under Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) duty-free status, said the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) in a statement.
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Further analysis by the International Trade Commission on the products in question and renewal of GSP, which expired this year, would be necessary before the goods would get any duty reductions. The bill is similar to legislation introduced in the House in May (see 13052320). "With the busy holiday travel period upon us, there is no better time for Congress to act on this important legislation," said Travel Goods Association President Michele Pittenger in a press release (here). The addition of travel goods to GSP would provide developing countries significant new opportunities due to the relatively low barriers to entry into travel goods manufacturing, said the TGA.
“Under the GSP UPDATE Act, countries like the Philippines and Cambodia will have increased opportunity to compete in the global market while providing U.S. consumers with more product choices,” said AAFA Vice Chairman Rick Helfenbein (here). Duties on low-cost travel goods can reach 17.6 percent, said AAFA. The legislation continues to protect domestic travel good manufacturing by excluding GSP duty-free eligibility for certain goods produced in the U.S. and requiring review of a potential product inclusion into GSP, prior to granting duty-free eligible status, said AAFA. “Today, 99 percent of travel goods sold in the United Sates are imported, meaning that these duties amount to an unavoidable, hidden, and regressive tax on American consumers,” said AAFA.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the legislation.