On a snowy day in DC, the 114th Congress was officially sworn in today. After a year-and-a-half of inaction on the expired GSP program, the new Congress couldn’t get here soon enough. The House alone has nearly 60 new members – many of which represent companies with a direct stake in swift, retroactive GSP renewal.

In total, 75 GSP supporter list companies are headquartered in Districts with a new House Member. Nearly two-thirds of new House members have at least one GSP supporter list company based in their district, but some have many more:

  • Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, NJ-12) has eight constituent companies urging GSP renewal. These include Howard Berger Co. in Cranbury; Sinopack USA in East Brunswick; iTi Tropicals in Lawrenceville; Privi Organics and Oceanic Linkways in North Brunswick; Meck Pharmachem in Plainsboro, and Kas Rugs and GJ Chemical in Somerset. The companies import a range of products – from food ingredients to stone products to chemicals to carpets to janitorial equipment – from seven different countries under GSP. Combined, they save millions of dollars annually when GSP is in effect.
  • Representative Bob Dold (R, IL-10) has seven constituent companies urging GSP renewal, including major manufacturers like Brunswick Corporation and Tenneco. Other GSP importers in the District include UTAS-USA in Des Plaines; BarrierSafe Solutions in Lake Forest; Aladdin Gold Creations in Northbrook; World Kitchen in Rosemont, and Deringer-Ney in Vernon Hills.
  • Representative Mimi Walters (R, CA-45) has six constituent companies urging GSP renewal. These include Hampton Products International in Foothill Ranch (which joined the supporter list today); Felt Bicycles, Transpacific Foods, and American Electric Cord in Irvine; Estas USA Camshaft in Lake Forest, and Cipriani Harrison Valves in Rancho Santa Margarita.

These list goes on: Representative Norma Torres (D, CA-35) has five GSP supporter companies based in the District; Representative Barry Loudermilk (R, GA-11) has four; Representatives Ted Lieu (D, CA-33), Seth Moulton (D, MA-6), and Dave Trott (R, MI-11) have three each, and eight more (5 Rs, 3 Ds) have two constituent companies urging GSP renewal.

This bipartisan group of freshman lawmakers might not agree on much else, but they’d all do well to push for an immediate, retroactive GSP renewal. New constituents are counting on them.