With the President signing the GSP renewal legislation into law in late June, all parts of the GSP program will restart – including the Annual Review process.
The legislation included a provision extending the deadline for the 2014 Annual Review to October 1. While normally the process would take about a year, the three-month timetable means that USTR will conduct a limited review dealing only with items related to the competitive need limit (CNL) thresholds.
Earlier this week, USTR released the details and schedule. Most notably, five products are at risk of losing GSP benefits on October 1:
- HTS 2008.19.15 from Thailand — Coconuts otherwise prepared or preserved;
- HTS 7408.29.10 from Thailand — Copper alloys (other than brass, cupro-nickel or nickel-silver), wire, coated or plated with metal;
- HTS 4412.31.40 from Indonesia — Certain plywood sheets not over 6 mm thick;
- HTS 7413.00.10 from Turkey — Certain copper, stranded wire;
- HTS 7413.00.50 from Turkey — Certain copper cables and plaited bands.
If you import any of the products above, we would love to know about it. Given the expedited review schedule, deadlines are very tight and all submissions related to retaining GSP benefits are due by July 31.
Some products are also eligible for reinstatement of GSP benefits (“List III” of this document, starting on page 9). If you import products on the list then you might wish to submit comments in support of reinstatement. Again, if you import any of those products and are interested in trying to get GSP benefits back, please let us know.
