The International Trade Commission on July 28 released a report (here) on recommended changes to Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) chapters 03, 44 and 63 that are necessary to implement amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) adopted by the World Customs Organization in 2015 (see 1506230026), it said (here). Unintentionally omitted from the WCO’s tariff changes set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2017 (see 14073002 and 14073101), the amendments to Chapter 44 introduce new subdivisions for coniferous and non-coniferous wood and new subheadings for certain wood of pine, fir, spruce, beech, birch, poplar, aspen and eucalyptus. These amendments to subheadings of headings 4401, 4403, 4406, 4407 and 4412 would take effect in 2018.
A bipartisan group of 14 members of Congress urged the Obama administration to proclaim duty-free benefits for 27 travel goods for all Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiary countries, after the government deferred GSP eligibility petitions for the products June 30. “As supporters of the GSP program and its congressionally mandated purpose of spurring development through trade and investment while also enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. companies, we are very disappointed with the decision to defer a determination on travel goods eligibility for all GSP countries,” the lawmakers said in a July 27 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. Continued inaction hampers the economic development of GSP-eligible countries, including economic and strategic U.S. allies, the lawmakers said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 5-8 in case they were missed.
Four industry groups urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to extend eligibility for 28 travel goods for all Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiary countries and requested a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman after USTR deferred duty benefit decisions on several articles for non-least developed beneficiary developing countries (LDBDCs) (see 1607010008). In a July 5 letter (here), the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the Outdoor Industry Association, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, and the Travel Goods Association said they were “stunned” that USTR “disregarded” the intent of Congress and stakeholder views expressed at the International Trade Commission and Trade Policy Staff Committee hearings, and in other communications with USTR, “despite virtually unanimous stakeholder and strong bipartisan support for the product expansion.”
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 27 - July 1 in case they were missed.
The International Trade Commission on July 1 posted revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements the first round of tariff cuts under the expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, as well as the results of the U.S. Trade Representative's 2015-16 review of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), adding several "travel goods" to the program, albeit only for least developed country beneficiaries.
The U.S. government has deferred decisions for additions of travel goods produced in non-least developed beneficiary developing countries to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), bringing a disappointed response from the American Apparel and Footwear Association (here). The 2015/2016 GSP Annual Review (here) deferred decisions for 27 articles under subheading 4202 for non-LDBDCs, but granted approval for tariff benefits for the goods for GSP least developed countries and for countries benefiting from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The International Trade Commission on July 1 posted revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements the results of the U.S. Trade Representative's 2015-16 review of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), adding several "travel goods" to the program, albeit only for least developed country beneficiaries. The ITC is also implementing the first round of tariff cuts under the expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, and adding new tariff numbers for a variety of products, including sweatshirts.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative suggested it could consider reaccepting Swaziland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as beneficiaries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if the countries make certain political reforms. Congo’s eligibility will largely depend on whether its 2016 presidential election is “free and fair,” while the U.S. is withholding benefits from Swaziland pending satisfaction of U.S. calls to protect freedom of speech and amend anti-terrorism legislation that currently functions to suppress political dissent, USTR indicated in its first biennial report of AGOA implementation required by the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (here). Notably, the report did not say how the nine other sub-Saharan countries ineligible for AGOA might regain tariff preferences.
U.S. trade preference programs have helped lower poverty and reduce hunger in several beneficiary countries, but free-trade agreements and general worldwide tariff decreases could dilute the social impacts of these trade programs, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a report released June 29 that was required by the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (here). Furthermore, tariff waivers can’t replace policy reforms needed to address bottlenecks in certain countries’ supply chains, the report says. The report also summarizes how specific products and countries have fared after implementation of preference programs: for instance, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar accounted for 92 percent of all U.S. apparel imports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act last year. USTR also touted several preference program “success stories,” such as Ethiopia’s surge in shoe exports to the U.S. under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from $630,000 in 2011 to $20 million 2015, a number that continues to rise.