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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 U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site a 33-page document entitled "U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Guidebook", which is dated November 2005.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an ABI administrative message announcing that it experienced a problem with the periodic monthly statement process which resulted in: (a) 798 final January 2006 periodic monthly statements being erroneously sent to the trade early in the morning of December 21, 2005, and (b) the periodic daily statement debit authorization (PN) transaction erroneously rejecting debit authorizations for periodic daily statements that belong to a January 2006 periodic monthly statement. In this message, CBP provides answers to numerous questions regarding this situation, including what caused the problem, etc. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/23/05 news, 05122325, for previous BP summary on this issue.)(Adm: 05-1456, dated 12/22/05, available at http://www.brokerpower.com/cgi-bin/adminsearch/admmsg.view.pl?article=2005/2005-1456.ADM.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum providing instruction for the filing and acceptance of claims for preferential treatment of goods made under the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (MFTA), which took effect on January 1, 2006.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that it has initiated a review of and is soliciting public comment by January 13, 2006 on the designation of Liberia for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. According to the notice, the USTR will determine if Liberia meets the designation criteria of the GSP program and should be designated as a GSP least-developed beneficiary developing country (LDBDC).
The White House has issued a press release stating that on December 22, 2005, President Bush approved the continued designation of the following 36 countries as eligible for tariff preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA):
On December 22, 2005, President Bush issued Proclamation 7971 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (MFTA).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is seeking public comments and has scheduled a public meeting as part of its review on whether the operation of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program should be changed so that the program's benefits are focused in a different way, etc.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting written comments on its Special 301 out-of-cycle reviews (OCRs) of Ukraine and Saudi Arabia regarding intellectual property rights.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing the 2005 petitions that have been accepted for its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Country Eligibility Practices Review (country practices review).