The chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade said Nov. 8 that he’s “hopeful that there [are] some things we can do” on trade when Congress returns to Washington this month for its lame-duck session.
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.
Officials from Squire Patton Boggs said that if Donald Trump returns to the presidency, a 10% tariff or higher on a vast swath of imports could come very quickly, but what wouldn't be subject to the tariffs is not yet clear.
In the Sept. 18 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 37), CBP published a proposal to revoke ruling letters concerning certain wheels and hubs for trucks and trailers and the applicability of the generalized system of preferences to incandescent string lights.
More than 25 agriculture groups asked the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees' leaders this week to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program.
CBP has released its Sept. 18 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 58, No. 37), which includes the following ruling actions:
Former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, who was a Republican representative from Michigan, told a think tank audience that the lame duck session of the current Congress is likely to be consumed with government funding negotiations, and that leadership is unlikely to put a vote on the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program on the calendar, no matter its logic, unless members of both legislative bodies actively lobby the leaders of his former committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
China-dependent supply chains developed because of the demands of retailers to sell products at low price points, a panelist explained at the Commerce Department's first supply chain summit, but the company is working to change that.
House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., led a bipartisan trip to Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, where they heard from Argentina and Paraguay how crucial the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program is to the trading relationship.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies "Trade Guys" said that while there is some pressure on Congress to get the Generalized Systems of Preferences benefits program renewed, and restrict de minimis, competing pressures make it unlikely bills will become law this year.
A bill recently introduced by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefitsprogram through the end of 2029, while adding new eligibility criteria related to the environment, women’s and human rights, rule of law and digital trade barriers, according to a final text of the bill provided by her office. The bill, S-4915, is the same as a proposal that was passed by the Senate in 2021 as an amendment to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 but never made it into law (see 2207190059).