The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the results of several Generalized System of Preferences- (GSP-) related reviews.
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
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 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the initiation of a review to consider the designation of Iraq as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
On June 30, 2004, President Bush signed Proclamation 7800 which makes a number of changes to the country/Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) number combinations eligible for duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, etc.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted to its Web site an updated version of the 2004 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) dated July 1, 2004 (Supplement 1).
On June 14, 2004, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 4103, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004 (AGOA III). The Senate subsequently passed H.R. 4103 without amendment on June 24, 2004, clearing the measure for the President.
On June 14, 2004, the House of Representatives approved, by voice vote, H.R. 4103, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004. (This bill is
The Journal of Commerce reports that the DHS Bureau of Transportation and Security Directorate (BTS) Container Working Group, which is working on "secure systems of transportation" and container seals and locks, is thinking about leveraging DHS' scarce assets, including whether the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) known-shipper program can somehow help the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). The article notes that the CWG intends to present the results of its work to the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) and obtain input from technology providers. (JoC dated 05/17-23/04, www.joc.com.)
The ITC has posted to its Web site a list of corrections to the printed and electronic versions of the 2004 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) in order to correct known errors discovered after the issuance of the January 1, 2004 HTS.
Oxfam, an international agency, has issued a briefing paper entitled Stitched Up: How Rich-Country Protectionism in Textile and Clothing Trade Prevents Poverty Alleviation.
Customs failure to reliquidate entries does not constitute a 'mistake of fact.' In Fujitsu Compound Semiconductor, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Court of International Trade's (CIT's) earlier determination that Customs' failure to reliquidate certain entries of laser diode modules on its own initiative does not constitute a mistake of fact correctable under 19 USC 1520(c).