Hawley Introduces GSP Bill That Would Tie Benefits to Unemployment Levels, Forced Labor Concerns
Sen. Josh Hawley, a populist Republican from Missouri, has introduced a Generalized System of Preferences bill that would only allow the tariff benefits to be granted when unemployment is below 4% in the U.S. The unemployment rate has been below 4% less than two years of the last 20. This version of GSP would also bar any country that the Department of Labor identifies as a country where there's a problem with forced labor or the worst forms of child labor.
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The Department of Labor identifies specific products where there is child labor or forced labor from specific countries, but the language of the bill would bar GSP benefits to all products from those countries, not just those identified by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
If this bill were to become law, not only would India and Turkey not be able to rejoin GSP, 26 countries currently eligible would be barred, including Thailand, Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines, Ecuador and Cambodia.
In the press release announcing the bill, Sen. Hawley said, “Trade programs should protect American workers and help their families to prosper, not benefit foreign nations or mega-corporations. Yet, for decades our trade policy has decimated millions of American jobs. It’s time to put workers at the center of our trade policy.”