Small Business Lays Off Worker, Cuts Back Benefits
More than 50 companies have responded to our GSP expiration poll. We’re particularly grateful for the responses that provide the context in which companies are dealing with GSP expiration and the new tariff costs. If you don’t think Congress needs to pass an immediate, retroactive, and long-term renewal of GSP, try reading t...
Continue readingMore than 200 Organizations Urging GSP Renewal
As of this morning, the GSP Supporter List now has more than 200 companies and trade associations urging Congress to pass an immediate, retroactive renewal of the GSP program. You can see the full list – as well as instructions to add your company – here. The companies are headquartered in 37 states (plus DC...
Continue readingGSP Expiration Cost $62 Million in March
New data out this afternoon showed that American companies paid an estimated $62 million in new taxes on $1.6 billion worth of previously GSP-eligible imports in March. For the first three months of the years, U.S. importers paid a total of $162 million in tariffs on $4.4 billion worth of imports because of GSP expiration. ...
Continue readingNew Tool: Email Senate Trade Staff Directly
This morning, we added a new “Email Your Senators” page to the website. It allows you to email directly the appropriate staff contact who handles trade as opposed to going through the generic forms found on most Senate office websites. We hope this improves the ability of constituent companies to contact their Senators about the.....
Continue readingAPB: Calling All Missouri, Ohio, and Utah Companies
We’re meeting with Congressional staff from those states next week. If you have facilities there and haven’t done so already, now’s the time to sign the Supporter List, respond to our expiration poll, and join the Coalition. We know many companies are reluctant to state publicly the impact of GSP expiration on their business...
Continue readingOverwhelming Interest in GSP Renewal
If you’ve been reading this blog or stumbled upon it, it’s probably because you care about GSP renewal. There are probably days when you think you’re the only one who does. You’re not! FYI, hundreds — more likely thousands — of other companies and others care about GSP renewal. – We’ve had more than 1...
Continue readingNew POLL: Retroactive GSP Renewal
Been down on Capitol Hill for meetings this week on GSP renewal with Congressional staff and one issue keeps popping up: retroactive renewal (i.e., refunds for tariffs paid to date). The thinking is that any renewal will be limited in duration based on the funding available. However, the question remains: given a limited GSP extension,...
Continue readingGSP Exporter Countries Weigh in on GSP Renewal
Yesterday, the Ambassadors to the United States from nine GSP beneficiary countries sent a joint-letter to Congressional leadership urging GSP renewal. A copy of the letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus is available here. The Hill newspaper picked up on the story yesterday afternoon. The countries represent some of the lar...
Continue readingGSP Supporter List Now Covers 230+ Congressional Districts
As promised last week, we updated the GSP Supporter List by CD to include secondary locations for signature companies. As a result, the GSP Supporter List now covers about 400 locations found in 230+ congressional districts. Even this updated version vastly understates the geographical “footprint” of the companies, since we did no...
Continue readingCompany News: In Response to the GSP Expiration, Prices will Increase
Over the weekend, we were tipped off to the website for Megabeadstore, which is based in Albany, California. The company imports component jewelry parts, and GSP waived tariffs of 5.0 percent to 13.5 percent. To date, Megabeadstore has absorbed the cost of the new tariffs in the hopes that Congress would act quickly to renew...
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