GSP Renewal Unlikely to be Part of Tax Extender Package, Says Retailers Lobbyist
Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. is unlikely to allow for a renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences to be added on to an unrelated tax extender bill that has been discussed to be a potential vehicle for GSP renewal (see 14032429), said Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. The tax bill is now being considered by the committee. "Sen. Wyden has said that he only wants to have germane amendments and germane bills as part of that package and he doesn't think trade is a germane amendment," said Gold, who spoke at a Coalition of New England Companies for Trade conference in Newport, R.I. on April 1. "So, it's unfortunate that GSP will not be a part of that, but we continue to push."
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There's some new hope for a customs reauthorization bill as a result of Gil Kerlikowske becoming CBP commissioner, though most trade legislation will likely continue to be pushed off, he said. "Congress is not going to vote on more than one trade bill this year, unfortunately," said Gold. "As we are looking at a shortening window of opportunity, looking at the election coming up in November, there is not going to be a lot of room for Congress to devote on multiple trade pieces." There had been hope that after Trade Promotion Authority legislation was introduced it could serve a vehicle to include several other trade-related measures, including GSP renewal, the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, customs reauthorization and the Affordable Footwear Act, among others, he said.
A major unanswered question will be "how do we find the funding to keep paying for these trade programs," he said. "Traditionally, you look at the customs user fees to pay for some of these programs. Some of that was sopped up to pay for the budget resolution last year" and there is also talk of using the fees to pay for unemployment insurance (see 14031427). "In this era of congress, everything has to be deficit neutral, so you can't borrow against the future and not have it paid for, so funding is going to be a real problem," he said.