Gearing up for GSP Renewal in 2013
The “long-term” renewal passed by Congress back in 2011 allowed the Coalition for GSP to take a bit of a breather, but GSP is set to expire at the end of July 2013 – just over seven months away! There will be lots of work to do once Congress returns in January and, with the...
Continue reading2011 GSP Imports and Tariff Savings by State
If asked what state had the highest value of GSP imports in 2011, there’s a good chance you’d guess California – and you’d be right. But what about these questions: -which state ranked 10th in both GSP imports and tariff savings? -which state’s imports would face the highest average tariffs without GSP? Those are...
Continue reading2011 GSP Annual Review – Who Loses?
Over the weekend, the Administration announced the results of the 2011 GSP Annual Review. You can read the Presidential Proclamation here or, if you’d prefer the non-legalese version, here’s a list from USTR that clearly states the decision for each product. Although it’s gotten little press, the statistics are quite strikin...
Continue readingImports Work for America: A Policy Agenda
As Imports Work for America Week draws to a close, it’s time to look ahead: what should policymakers do to ensure that our trade agenda includes initiatives that enable American workers, families and producers to fully benefit from imports. There are many, but the Coalition for GSP suggests Congressional passage of a long-term renewal o...
Continue readingGSP Works for Economic Development
We’ve already highlighted the ways that the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) works for American jobs, families, and manufacturing, but we can’t forget about the original intent of the program: promoting growth in developing countries. Today, the GSP program provides duty-free access for about 3,400 products from 130 developing co...
Continue readingGSP Works for American Manufacturing
All too often, people think a product is either “Made in USA” or made somewhere else. Yet American manufacturers use imported components to reduce costs or gain access to materials not available in the United States. Similarly, imports often contain American content previously exported and assembled abroad. As a result...
Continue readingGSP Works for American Families
When imports enter the United States, they often face tariffs – taxes – collected by the U.S. government. Some of these tariffs are pretty high: 13.5% for inexpensive silver jewelry, 12.5% for flashlights, and 10.0% for coffee mugs. Everyday food products are often worse: 17.9% for nuts and seeds, 15.0% for Parmesan cheese, ...
Continue readingGSP Works for American Jobs
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a U.S. trade program that eliminates the tariffs (i.e., taxes) paid by American companies when they import certain products from about 130 developing countries around the world. GSP was created in the 1970s as part of an international effort to promote development through “trade, not aid.&r...
Continue readingImports Work for America Week
A number of organizations and individuals in the trade policy community have been working on a new initiative called Imports Work for America Week with the goal of providing a chance to talk about how imports, in addition to exports, create benefits for the U.S. economy. Imports Work for America Week will take place May...
Continue readingCompanies Begin Receiving GSP Refunds
Great news today (from one of our GSP Supporter List companies) that its GSP refunds had arrived. We knew refunds were scheduled to start going out last Friday, but this is the first we’ve heard from someone with check in hand. Although most of us would probably like to forget the last GSP renewal fight,...
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