Overall, GSP tariff savings increased increased by 31 percent compared to February 2015. The value of imports under GSP increased 30 percent. These sharp increases reflect abnormally low imports in February 2015 on account of the the West Coast port strikes.

Some states, including those not affected by the 2015 strikes such as Pennsylvania and Virginia, saw ever bigger increases in GSP imports and savings compared to February 2015, as shown in the graphic below.

In Pennsylvania, GSP imports increased by 52 percent and savings from GSP by 63 percent compared to one year earlier. Primary form plastics and pencils/crayons from Brazil, ferrochromium (a raw material for steel manufacturing) from Zimbabwe, and candy confections from Thailand contributed most to Pennsylvania’s GSP increases.

In Virginia, GSP imports increased by 39 percent and savings from GSP by 52 percent compared to one year earlier. Ceramic tableware and kitchenware from Indonesia, steering wheels and columns from India, and iron oxides from Brazil contributed most to Virginia’s GSP increases.

Imports from Uruguay jumped by 102 percent, led by increased imports of plywood by companies in Washington. GSP eliminated more than $580,000 in import taxes on silver jewelry. More than 40 percent of those imports went to New York.

So we decided to conduct an experiment: we downloaded all of the Panjiva import records from GSP beneficiary countries for the most recent day available (Thursday, July 17) and examined each shipment to see if the company (likely) paid unnecessary taxes because Congress has failed to renew the program.

We found nearly 100 companies that likely paid taxes on that one day (full list after the jump) based in 24 states. The vast majority of them are not on the GSP supporter list – including some pretty BIG companies – meaning the constituent impacts are much greater than we have been able to highlight. At least they’re not on the list yet…we hope anyone that sees their company below will add it here.

Even this list significantly understates the actual number of companies that likely paid higher taxes last Thursday. That’s because we were conservative in identifying “likely GSP shipments.” For example, we skipped over all records that named a shipping company as the importer of record as well as records with vague product descriptions such as “granite” or “foodstuffs.” These are both major GSP imports, but GSP-eligibility depends on the type of granite and foodstuffs. Finally, there were about 4 times as many shipment records for July 16 as for July 17…would we have found 4 times as many companies had we chosen one day earlier? (We’d still be reviewing them, but may undertake that effort at a later date!)

So while far from perfect, here is the partial list of companies that likely got stuck paying higher taxes on July 17:

GSP supporter list companies importing GSP-eligible products (22):

• Acme Food Sales (Seattle, WA) – coconut water from Thailand
• Bridgestone Americas (Nashville, TN) – tires from Indonesia
• Camerican International (Paramus, NJ) – food products from Thailand
• Cummins Inc. (Columbus, IN) – engine parts from India
• Eastland Food Corporation (Jessup, MD) – food products from Thailand
• Eucatex of North America (Alpharetta, GA) – fiberboard from Brazil
• Felt Racing LLC (Irvine, CA) – bicycles from Cambodia
• Fusion Gourmet (Gardena, CA) – candy from Indonesia
• Handy International (Salisbury, MD) – seafood products from Thailand
• Henry W. Peabody & Co. (Lynnfield, MA) – polypropylene products from Indonesia
• International Packaging Films (Norwood, NJ) – polyester films from India
• Jaunty Co. (Los Angeles, CA) – hand-tufted carpets from India
• Kas Oriental Rugs (Somerset, NJ) – hand-tufted carpets from India
• Loloi Inc. (Dallas, TX) – hand-tufted carpets from India
• LR Resources (Dalton, GA) – hand-tufted carpets from India
• M.S. International (Batavia, CA) – stone products from Brazil and Turkey
• Primetac (Little Ferry, NJ) – adhesive tape from Indonesia
• Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems (Edmonton, KY) – copper wire from Indonesia
• Universal Arquati (Santa Clarita, CA) – wooden picture-frame moulding from Indonesia
• Via Motif (Miami, FL) – handicrafts from Indonesia
• Yaraghi LLC (Port Washington, NY) – hand-tufted carpets from India
• Zebra Pen Corp. (Edison, NJ) – ballpoint pens from India

Other GSP supporter list companies (product descriptions too vague to determine GSP eligibility (9):

• General Electric (Fairfield, CT)
• Michelin North America (Greenville, SC)
• Napa Rayloc (Atlanta, GA)
• Omicron Supply (Pompano Beach, FL)
• Pantai USA (Doral, FL)
• S&V Industries (Fairlawn, OH)
• Tumac Lumber (Portland, OR)
• Universal Forest Products (Union City, GA)
• Venture Lighting (Solon, OH)

Non-supporter companies importing GSP-eligible products (60):

• Abaline Supply Co. (Port Reading, NJ) – plastic cups from India
• ABB Power (Jefferson City, MO) – parts for electrical transformers from India
• Acme Mfg. Co. (Denver, CO) – aluminum alloy extruded products from India
• AKG Thermal Systems (Mebane, NC) – oil coolers from India
• Amber International (West Orange, NJ) – plastic tubes with caps from Thailand
• American Honda Motor Company Parts Center (Chino, CA) – auto parts from Thailand
• Arrowpak Inc. (Richmond Hill, NY) – glass bottles from India
• Atlapac Trading Company (Commerce, CA) – sweet corn in brine from Thailand
• Atlas Global Supply (Arlington, TX) – metal clothes hangers from Cambodia
• Aurolife Pharma LLC (Dayton, NJ) – high-density polyethylene (plastic) bottles from India
• Bacova Guild Ltd. (Covington, VA) – rubber mats from India
• Barbara Cosgrove Lamps (North Kansas City, MO) – handicrafts from India
• Carbon Activated Corp. (Compton, CA) – activated carbon from Sri Lanka
• Castings Inc. (Grand Junction, CO) – sanitary castings from India
• Chem One Ltd. (Houston, TX) – sodium formate from Turkey
• CLP Chemicals (Houston, TX) – glycerine from Indonesia
• Collaborative Advantage Marketing (Birmingham, MI) – coconut water from Thailand
• Del Valle, Kahman & Company (Buena Park, CA) – plywood from Indonesia
• Design by Deekay (Montclair, CA) – incense from India
• Donau Carbon Corporation (Springfield, NJ) – activated carbon from India
• Eagle Ottawa (Auburn Hills, MI) – buffalo leather from India
• G.L. Food Wholesale (City of Industry, CA) – soy sauce from the Philippines
• Gemini Food Corporation (Walnut, CA) – chili sauce from Thailand
• Global Agri-Trade Corporation (Long Beach, CA) – palmitic acid from Indonesia
• Goodman Manufacturing Company (Houston, TX) – air conditioning parts from Thailand
• Hankook Tire America Corp. (Wayne, NJ) – tires from Indonesia
• Home Design Store (Coral Gables, FL) – wooden products from India
• Homegoods (Framingham, MA) – brooms from Sri Lanka
• IKEA Supply (Perryville, MD) – ceramic sanitarywares from Turkey
• Innoleo LLC (Boca Raton, FL) – ricinoleic acid from India
• Kimberly-Clark Global Sales (Romeoville, IL) – latex gloves from Thailand
• Ludlow Composites (Fremont, OH) – rubber mats from India
• Main Street Décor (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) – wooden picture frames from Indonesia
• Mizuno USA (Norcross, GA) – batting gloves from Indonesia
• MM Composite Inc. (Fort Madison, IA) – epoxide resin from Thailand
• Montebello Packaging (Lebanon, KY) – aluminum discs from Thailand
• Nissan North America (Canton, MS) – steering components from Brazil
• Nitta Gelatin (Morrisville, NC) – gelatin from India
• Pacific Coral Seafood (Miami, FL) – frozen fried plantains from Ecuador
• Panamerican Food LLC (Miami, FL) – frozen bakery products from Uruguay
• Perfette Van Melle (Hebron, KY) – sugar-free gum from Turkey
• Pharmexcipient Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) – microchrystaline cellulose from Brazil
• Platinum Goods Corp. (Miami, FL) – coconut water from Brazil
• Pro Comp USA (Chula Vista, CA) – leaf springs from India
• Ramcar Batteries (Commerce, CA) – lead-acid storage batteries from the Philippines
• Rice Import USA (Hicksville, NY) – parboiled rice from Pakistan
• Rubbermaid Commercial Products (Winchester, VA) – brooms from Sri Lanka
• Spazio Marble and Granite (Lake Worth, FL) – travertine from Brazil
• Spicy Sense (Los Angeles, CA) – coconut milk from Thailand
• Stash Tea Company (Tigard, OR) – lemongrass from Thailand
• Stauber California (Fullerton, CA) – papaya fruit powder from India
• Sullair Corporation (Michigan City, IN) – air intake filters from Turkey
• Summit Flexible Products (Dayton, OH) – rubber floor mats from India
• Sun Lee Inc. (Los Angeles, CA) – corn and other food products from Thailand
• Superior Mfg. Group (Bedford Park, IL) – rubber floor mats from India
• Tecumseh Compressor Co. (Ann Arbor, MI) – electrical relays from Brazil
• TG Medical USA (Azusa, CA) – latex gloves from Thailand
• The Incense Works Inc. (Pleasant Lake, IN) – incense from India
• Vipac Inc. (Edison, NJ) – plastic bags from India
• Viraj USA (Garden City, NY) – threaded metal products from India

Again, if your company is in that last group and you want to add your name to the free GSP supporter list, you can do it here.

• They are headquartered in 42 states (plus DC) and 221 congressional districts and you can download the list by supporter list by congressional district here.
• They range from sole proprietors to some of the largest corporations in the world, but about 78% are small businesses with 100 or less employees, and the median number of employees is just 15.
• GSP savings range from as little as $1,000 to millions of dollars per year.
• They import from more than a quarter of GSP-eligible countries, including: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uruguay.

For those comparing to our last update, we’ve added 2 states (New Hampshire and Vermont), a number of new CDs, enough very small businesses to drop the median employees from 17 to 15,  and one new GSP-eligible country (Ukraine).

If you’re not yet on the list, be sure to add your name here.

The GSP’s importance to its beneficiary countries cannot be underestimated. The import program benefits more than 3.8 billion people living in two-thirds of the world’s economies. They rely on GSP duty-free exports to the United States to create tangible economic development.

The letter also noted that when GSP was allowed to expire for 10 months back in 2011:

U.S. imports of GSP-eligible items during that period decreased by over 17 percent, while overall U.S. imports increased by 15 percent.

We’re in the process of collecting company/association signatures for a similar U.S. business letter.  If you’d like your organization to be on that letter, just add your name (if you haven’t already) to our GSP Supporter List.  But act quick, as our letter will be going out VERY soon!

Idaho companies imported an estimated $4.4 million under GSP in 2011, saving them on average 2.3%. Uruguay was the most important source of GSP imports, accounting for about 39 percent of the tariff savings. Prepared beef products were Idaho’s top import under GSP in 2011 and would have faced average tariffs of 3.7% without GSP.

Yet GSP is set to expire on July 31, 2013, and companies could face tariffs higher tariffs starting on August 1 if Congress does not pass legislation renewing GSP. When GSP expired at the end of 2010, American companies paid nearly $2 million per day, every day, until Congress finally acted 11 months later!

This graphic shows just some of the negative impacts from the last GSP expiration. It also helps explain why more than 335 companies and associations joined the 2011 GSP Supporter List urging renewal of the program when it last expired.

Are you an Idaho company that would be hurt by GSP expiration? If so, please take 30 seconds to let Congress know by adding your name to our free 2013 GSP Supporter List right now.

The countries represent some of the largest GSP exporters, including Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, as well as smaller countries like Kosovo, Mongolia, and Uruguay.  The letter highlights the loss in market share for GSP-eligible products, the increased costs for US producers, and job loss in their respective countries.