Surprisingly, it is very hard to know who benefits from GSP tariff savings, since the US government does not publish that information from the import records. Some people call us up and tell us their story. We read about other companies in official submissions when the government (typically the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) asks for comments on the GSP program.
Last summer, the Coalition for GSP attempted to identify likely GSP beneficiaries by scouring customs records for companies importing products that claim GSP tariff savings. We found thousands of companies despite looking at a limited number of products imported from just eight GSP countries.
We turned the records into an interactive map that allows us to focus on specific states and even congressional districts to find companies likely benefiting from GSP. Of course, those were better days, so now the map shows the locations of companies likely hurt by its expiration.
