This morning we received an email from Halsted Corporation, one of the nearly 400 GSP supporter list organizations advocating for swift, retroactive GSP renewal. (Use these links to see the full list or add your organization.) Halsted has 30 employees and has paid $15,000 in extra tariffs since GSP expired a few weeks back. Nationally, companies have paid as much as $70 million due to GSP expiration. Here is what they wrote (emphasis added):
We are a small, family-owned business that has been manufacturing, importing, and distributing poly bags since 1876 (142 years). Sandbags from India are a major part of our business – the majority of which end up being sold through our distributors to government municipalities for flood relief.
This year, we are worried that we have no choice but to raise our prices to factor in the increased duty, as the unrest in Washington seems to be at an all-time high, and our confidence in a retroactive renewal is not as strong as it has been in previous years.
While we continue to navigate this situation, we have put several expansion plans for 2018 on-hold, including hiring additional sales and operations staff for our Cranbury, NJ facility.
Higher costs and uncertainty about renewal make any big decisions difficult, particularly for small businesses like Halsted. Decision-making becomes harder every day as new shipments arrive and the amount of taxes paid grows, making it critical for Congress to pass GSP renewal legislation quickly.
Is GSP expiration similarly impacting your company? If so, let us know how by completing this form. As always, no company-specific information will be published without explicit permission.
