Hundreds of Trade Groups, Companies Urge Trade Committees to Work for GSP Renewal by Next Year
A group of more than 350 companies and trade associations urged Congress in a Nov. 14 letter to renew the Generalized System of Preferences by its expiration at the end of the year, noting termination would cost U.S. companies more than $2 million per day in tariffs. “GSP supports American manufacturing by reducing costs of imported inputs, machinery and equipment, and helps American families make ends meet by lowering the costs of consumer goods imported duty free,” says the letter sent to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., as well as to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and ranking member Richard Neal, D-Mass.
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The groups -- the American Apparel and Footwear Association, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, and the International Wood Products Association among them -- noted that U.S. companies paid $1.3 billion in “extra taxes” amid GSP’s August 2013-July 2015 lapse in authorization, while the program saved U.S. companies almost $730 million in tariffs in 2016, and is on track to save more this year. The letter reminds lawmakers that almost 400 representatives and 97 senators voted to renew GSP in 2015. Prior to reauthorization, “taxes and uncertainty forced companies to lay off workers, freeze new hires, cut wages and benefits, and delay capital investments,” the letter says. “Only after GSP was renewed could companies start growing and investing again in their workers and communities. American businesses -- particularly small businesses -- cannot afford for GSP to expire again.” Finance and Ways and Means didn’t comment.