As March gets ready to turn to April and Congress seems no closer to renewing GSP than it was in December, there’s a real sense of despair among many companies that have relied on GSP in the past. Instead of trying to sugarcoat this, we decided to post some more emails we’ve received from readers (emphasis added).
Remember, companies can add their name to our GSP Supporter List by emailing here. We need name and location, but more info, like that included below, is always appreciated.
There are a couple themes that tend to run through the emails we get. The companies are small, scared, and praying for help from someone/anyone. Many have tried contacting their reps, but the question remains: are their reps listening???
Anyways, to the emails:
- A company in Las Vegas, Nevada says: “We are a small importer of frozen foods (edamame, vegetable mixes) from Thailand and Indonesia. We are currently losing money on all products imported and have been experiencing this since Jan 1st. We were initially told we would get this back, but it now mid March. We will be forced out of business if this continues. I have notified my representative in Congress, but nothing is happening. Help.”
- A company in Bohemia, New York says: “This is affecting us tremendously, as we import metal home accessories from India. We cannot increase our pricing in the middle of a season, however, so we are spending at least $1000 extra on every single container we import. As a small company, this is affecting us in a huge way. We are praying that the GSP will be passed.”
- Finally, a company in Hyde Park, Massachusetts says: “Our business is importing food products in bulk and repacking them in the USA. Without GSP we are no longer competitive with our products from Turkey and Argentina. We add value by using US workers to repack with US manufactured packaging materials. We can’t compete without GSP and we will have to walk away from the business and let more American jobs go overseas.”
