Busy week on trade as we noted yesterday. The Senate invoked cloture on the TPA bill just a moment ago, which sets up a final vote on TPA later tonight or tomorrow – and then a cloture vote on the GSP/preferences bill tomorrow. Given the short time frame, it’s crucial that GSP importers contact their Senators about the need to pass HR 1295, the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015.

After the 97-1 Senate passage last month, you may think contacts aren’t necessary. However, new provisions (TAA) have been added that may Republicans strongly oppose. With 60 “yes” votes needed to invoke cloture, a significant number of Republicans will be needed to support the bill despite opposition to TAA.

So here are the instructions we provided yesterday:

  1. call, tweet, and email their Senators (contact info available here)
  2. urge support for HR 1295, Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, which would renew GSP and refund nearly $1.25 billion in taxes paid by American companies like yours (state breakdown available here)
  3. ask whether the Senator plans to support HR 1295
  4. send any feedback to the Coalition for GSP

You can also note that a vote against HR 1295 is a vote to continue unnecessary taxes on American businesses (and mostly small businesses at that).

Thanks in advance for helping us get this over the finish line!