International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 19-23 in case they were missed.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, expressed his desire for renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and quick movement of the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB), according to his opening statement at a June 22 committee hearing (here). “We plan to renew GSP and move quickly on our Miscellaneous Tariff Bill to help U.S. exporters,” he said. Trade group executives recently said they were pondering whether both pieces of legislation could move forward together (see 1706200050). According to the timeline laid out in the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016, Congress could consider MTB legislation Nov. 6 or sooner.
Trade groups are eyeing the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) set to be considered in November as a possible vehicle for renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences program, industry executives said in recent interviews. “We’re thinking that those two will be packaged together to move, and so we’re hoping that’ll give additional impetus” to Congress for renewing GSP before the program expires Dec. 31, said American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) Senior Vice President for Supply Chain Nate Herman. AAFA and other stakeholders are feeling an increased urgency to push for renewal after Congress let GSP benefits lapse between 2013 and 2015 before passing trade preferences legislation to re-enact the program (see 1605160032), Herman said.
The International Trade Commission on June 6 released the public version of its report to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on potential changes to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program for 2016/2017, it said in a press release (here). The 114-page report (here), 139 pages shorter than last year's, includes data related to potential additions of products for all GSP beneficiary countries under subheadings 1104.19.90 (Rolled or flaked grains of cereals, other than of barley or oats), 2008.20.00 (Pineapples, otherwise prepared or preserved, nesi), 2915.9018 (Saturated acyclic monocarboxylic acids, nesoi), 3809.93.50 (Finishing agents, dye carriers and other preparations used in leather and like industries, <5% by weight aromatic (mod.) substance(s)), and 3192.20.00 (Cellulose nitrates (including collodions, in primary forms)).
CBP is providing additional guidance on resubmitting protests rejected under the agency’s previous policy against using protests to claim preferences under certain free trade agreements and programs, in a CSMS message (here). “In order to assist CBP in processing protests previously rejected as non-protestable,” importers with rejected protests are “required” to resubmit their protests within 180 days of the February policy memorandum that ended the policy (see 1702220038), “i.e. on or about Aug. 14,” the message said. The policy memo itself had only said importers are “requested” to resubmit within 180 days. "Protests are required to be filed by August 14, 2017," said a CBP spokeswoman. "Any protests filed after that date will not be considered," she said.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., introduced a bill on May 25 that would qualify footwear classified in over 20 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings in Chapter 64 for Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) treatment for the first time in the program’s more than 40-year history. The legislation, H.R. 2735, would also require the executive branch to conduct six annual studies of the state of the U.S. footwear industry, focusing on yearly changes to categories of domestic footwear. The bill would require the International Trade Commission to inform that report by examining current production of "like or directly competitive articles" and to identify any articles for which domestic production is likely to occur within the next year at a commercial level.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of April 17-23:
CBP recently posted a document (here) that provides side-by-side comparisons of 18 U.S. free trade agreements and preferential trade programs. This updated version includes a new section on whether or not "Tariff Shift Rules Updated to 2017 HTSUS" for each agreement. CBP also updated the expiration dates for the Generalized System of Preferences and African Growth and Opportunity Act (see 1506290045). CBP noted that the document, dated March 29, is for comparative purposes and isn't legally binding.
U.S. trade officials met with Afghan counterparts on March 27 and 28 in Kabul to discuss customs, trade facilitation, government procurement procedures, intellectual property, U.S. assistance for Afghanistan's accession to the World Trade Organization, and other bilateral trade and investment issues, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement (here). The U.S. and Afghanistan also talked about opportunities for Afghanistan's expanded use of the Generalized System of Preferences, the need for full implementation of the 2010 Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, and the role of women in growing trade. In 2016, the U.S. exported $913 million in goods to Afghanistan and imported $34 million in goods from the country, USTR said.