There were approximately 10,600 country-product combinations imported under GSP in 2012, from Afghani fruits to Zimbabwean wood products and everything in between. As shown by the graph below, for the majority of these country-product combos, the imports come in under GSP or not at all.
For country-product combos worth $2.7 billion in 2012, not a single penny was imported outside of the GSP program!  That accounts for about 43 percent of all country-product combos and is an amazing statistic considering that importers and their customs brokers 1) need to know about the GSP program; 2) specifically claim benefits; 3) meet certain in-country value-added thresholds, and 4) maintain extra  documentation on GSP imports.

Many of these “100 percenters” are raw materials and industrial goods used by American manufacturers, such as ferrosilicon from Russia and Georgia and ceramic laboratory materials from Brazil.

For another $4.4 billion worth of GSP imports in 2012, at least 99 percent of U.S. imports of those products from GSP-eligible countries came in under the program, including tires from Indonesia, aluminum alloy sheets from South Africa, and metal flanges from India.

Even the value of imports on the low end of the spectrum is deceptively high: $628 million of the $852 million worth of imports in the “less than 25 percent” category come from two oil products from Angola – which overwhelmingly receive duty-free access under AGOA.

Although it’s gotten little press, the statistics are quite striking.  Seven products were denied “competitive need limit” (CNL) waivers, or had their existing waiver revoked, effectively immediately.  American companies imported $1.5 billion worth of these products under GSP last year, saving $64 million.  Put differently, these products accounted for nearly 10 percent of total GSP savings last year!

But alas, no more savings for American importers of Thai jewelry or tires, Brazilian lysine, Indian hand-hooked carpets or brake parts, Indonesian aluminum alloy plates, or Turkish refined borax.  (Several other products lost GSP benefits as well, but no importers petitioned for continuation, so we didn’t include them on our list.)

We decided to take a look at which states would be impacted most by the changes based on the estimated 2011 GSP savings.  While far from exhaustive, below is a list of some of the top losers, both overall and for specific products:

• The leading importers of Thai truck/bus tires, California companies saved $10 million on those imports under GSP last year.  All total, GSP for the products that lost benefits yesterday saved CA companies $14 million in 2011.
• Maryland accounted for nearly a third of Thai silvery jewelry imports last year, saving more than $11 million.
• GSP benefits saved for the seven products saved New York companies more than $9 million in 2011, including $7 million on jewelry and more than $1 million each on carpets and aluminum alloy sheets.
• More than 97 percent of all lysine imports under GSP went to just two states: Illinois and Missouri.  Needless to say, there are some unhappy producers in those states today after GSP benefits that saved $3 million last year were revoked.
• Lysine importers aren’t the only companies in the Land of Lincoln impacted by the decision: GSP saved Illinois companies more than $2 million last year on brake parts from India – about two-thirds of total U.S. tariff savings for those products under GSP.
• Georgia companies saved $2.3 million last year on imports of Indian carpets – about one-thirds of total U.S. savings.
• Finally, New Jersey companies saved $4.2 million on imports of aluminum sheets from Indonesia in 2011 – four times as much as importers in the next largest state.