The Labor Department is requesting comments to inform development of the government’s 2018 edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and possible updates to the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor, as needed, Labor said. Labor is requesting that commenters provide information to Labor’s Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking by 5 p.m. Jan. 12, 2018. Further, DOL seeks comments to inform the 2018 edition of the Worst Forms of Child Labor report, an annual review that fulfills a statutory mandate tasking the labor secretary with reporting findings with regard to Generalized System of Preferences countries’ implementation of international commitments to eliminate the “worst forms of child labor,” DOL said.
House Ways and Means Committee Republicans remain undecided about whether a miscellaneous tariff bill would advance with a Generalized System of Preferences renewal bill, but they indicated a hope to pass both by the end of the year. “I have not yet made a decision on [any packaged MTB/GSP] trade bill, but those two issues are vitally important,” committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said during an Oct. 25 Christian Science Monitor breakfast. “I expect us to conclude those this year.”
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will have a “heightened focus” on finishing ongoing Generalized System of Preferences reviews and the Trump administration will start a three-year process to assess each GSP beneficiary country’s compliance with statutory eligibility criteria, USTR announced. The new effort to ensure beneficiary countries meet GSP eligibility benchmarks will complement the current USTR petition-receipt-and-public-comment process for country practice reviews, "which will remain unchanged," USTR said. The first assessment will examine Asian GSP beneficiary countries, and the administration will review GSP beneficiary countries in other parts of the world during the second and third years, USTR said. The review of Asian beneficiary countries will include India, a USTR spokeswoman said in an email. Trade associations recently petitioned for India's removal from GSP, citing unfair restrictions on U.S. dairy and medical device exports (see 1710190022). Any GSP compliance issues could result in a self-initiated executive branch “full country practice review” of the nation’s continued eligibility for the program, USTR said.
The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee on Oct. 25 will hold a hearing to focus on potential temporary tariff relief for imports not made in the U.S. through the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) process, the committee announced. The committee is preparing legislation to implement MTB recommendations made by the International Trade Commission in August (see 1708080068), the committee said. “After a full, transparent investigation under the new process, the independent International Trade Commission recommends to Congress more than 1,800 petitions for inclusion in an MTB bill that will help our businesses, benefit our consumers, and grow our economy,” subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert, R-Wash., said in a statement. “This hearing provides an opportunity for us to discuss these important benefits in advance of imminent House consideration of the MTB to deliver tariff relief to our manufacturers.” There's been some discussion of moving a Generalized System of Preferences renewal along with MTB legislation (see 1709120021).
Groups filed petitions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative through Oct. 17 requesting changes in the status of country and tariff treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences, including a petition to add 16 HTS subheadings of garment products from Cambodia and two petitions to remove India from the program altogether.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 10-13 in case they were missed.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Oct. 5 cleared legislation to require greater publicizing of and technical assistance for foreign use of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), after the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Sept. 28 passed companion legislation. The bills, introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., would require the executive branch to maintain a public website to disseminate AGOA information, including information and technical assistance already provided at U.S. Agency for International Development regional trade hubs. The bills also say the president should provide capacity building training to promote diversification of African products and value-added processing, as well as capacity building and technical assistance funding to help African companies and institutions comply with U.S. counterterrorism policies and initiatives.
Generalized System of Preferences renewal has bipartisan support in the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, and lawmakers are working to enact legislation before January to extend the program, spokeswomen from the committees said in Oct. 11 emails. "Bipartisan members of the committee are working together on this important issue and committed to renewing this before the end of the year,” the Ways and Means spokeswoman said. A Finance spokeswoman said it’s her committee’s “goal” to reauthorize the program by the end of Dec. 31, when benefits are set to expire.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 25-29 in case they were missed.
CBP issued filing instructions for goods eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences in the event the GSP program expires at the end of the year. As in previous GSP lapses (see 13071514), filers would continue to use the GSP special program indicator to flag their entries, but would have to pay duties at the normal, non-preferential rate for any imports with a time of entry during the lapse. GSP is currently set to expire Dec. 31 if the program isn’t extended by Congress, though lobbyists say GSP renewal legislation could be passed alongside the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill by the end of the year (see 1709120021).