The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a trade preference program established by the Trade Act of 1974, which promoted economic development by eliminating duties on many products when they were imported from one of the 119 countries and territories designated as developing. The program expired in December 2020 and is pending renewal in Congress. Should Congress renew the program with a retroactive refund clause, CBP will refund duties for entries eligible for GSP. Under the GSP, goods that are entirely produced or manufactured in a beneficiary developing country may qualify for duty-free entry under GSP; all third-party materials must undergo a substantial transformation defined as at least 35% of the good’s value having been added in the beneficiary country. The goods must also be “imported directly” from the GSP eligible country.
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release stating that it will extend through March 31, 2005, its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Country Practices Review of a petition to remove GSP duty-free benefits from Brazil due to inadequate protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).
According to U.S. government sources, the 2005 printed, paper edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) is expected to be printed later than usual this year.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a comparison of various trade agreements and trade programs. The trade agreements/programs compared in the document are the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Singapore FTA (SFTA), the Chile FTA (UCFTA, or CFTA), and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
On November 19, 2004, the Senate passed the conference version of H.R. 1047, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004. The House passed the conference version of H.R. 1047 on October 8, 2004. The conference version of H.R. 1047 has now been cleared for the White House.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that it is extending the deadline for the submission of petitions for the 2004 Annual Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review to 5 p.m. on December 13, 2004.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the initiation of a review to consider the designation of Azerbaijan as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued two ABI administrative messages announcing that its most recent Harmonized System (HS) updates contain:
The European Commission (EC) has issued a press release announcing that it has adopted a proposal setting out the details of the European Union (EU) Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for 2006-2008. According to the press release, the EC proposal would modify the EU GSP through simplification, expanding product coverage, focusing benefits on those developing countries most in need, and setting up additional benefits known as GSP.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a set of amendments (dated September 20, 2004) to the January 29, 2004 version of its instructions on the filing and substantiating of claims for preferential tariff treatment made under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (UCFTA or CFTA).
On September 7, 2004, the President signed Proclamation 7808 in order to make various changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) with respect to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004 (AGOA III), the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), etc.