Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the GSP program going back into effect. What has been the impact since then?
On the data side, we know the renewal alone led to about $1.3 billion in refunds. We also know that GSP waived about $580 million in additional import taxes from August 2015 to May 2016 (our Graphics page has snapshots with monthly savings update). Assuming average savings in June and July, GSP renewal meant an extra $2 billion at the disposal of American companies over the past year.
The numbers are impressive but individual company stories show the vital importance of the GSP program to American companies and workers even better. That is particularly true in the current political environment where trade has been a useful pinata for nearly all candidates.
So if you only take one GSP-related action in 2016, it should be answering this survey. We expect the survey report to be one of the principle documents used to advocate for GSP renewal beyond its current expiration date – now just 17 months away.
Like previous surveys, all data will be kept confidential and no company-specific answers will be attributed unless you explicitly grant permission. If you have any questions, please contact Dan Anthony at the Coalition for GSP here.
