This afternoon, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) announced that he would hold a “mock” mark up on legislation implementing the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA). Press release is available here.
Included in this legislation is a renewal of the GSP program through July 31, 2013. The legislation is “retroactive,” meaning companies would be refunded tariffs paid to date. So that’s the good news.
The bad news: The issue is far from resolved. Baucus’ decision to include TAA legislation in the Korea FTA implementing bill, which will also be discussed in the hearing on Thursday, has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans, including Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch.
While GSP itself has not been targeted, all of these programs will likely sink or swim together. Since this will be controversial, make sure to use our Senate and House email pages and let your representatives know that you support an GSP renewal.
We’re also collecting quotes about what a retroactive GSP renewal will allow your business to do over the next 6 months, so send us your quotes here.
