Last week, the House overwhelming approved GSP renewal legislation (HR 4979) but a vote of 400-2. The statements in support of GSP renewal were as strong as the final vote. Several Members highlighted how GSP savings can help companies lower costs, hire workers, and invest in their businesses and employees:

Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX): “In Texas alone, our local job creators saved more than $76 million. Of course, this is money that our businesses can instead use to hire more workers, expand, and innovate. But think about what it means for families.”

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who helped spearhead last October’s House letter urging GSP renewal: “In 2017, producers in my state saved $17 million on GSP imports through reduced tariffs. There savings translate directly to how much companies can reinvest in their businesses and their employees.”

Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN): “GSP helps American manufacturers both big and small cut input costs, which in turn lowers prices for consumers. Companies saved $865 million in import duties in 2017 alone.”

Other went further and highlighted specific companies that would benefit from GSP renewal, including GSP supporter list companies TRInternational and Kona Bicycle in Washington, Primetac in New Jersey, and TopFlite Mfg. in Florida.

Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-WA): “In my home state of Washington, GSP saved companies about $11 million in import duties in 2017 — up 30 percent from 2016. 

As just one example, TRInternational, a small but quickly growing veteran-owned chemical distributor in Seattle, relies on GSP to obtain certain chemical raw materials at globally competitive prices.  Our last renewal of GSP in 2015 allowed TRI to hire more employees and increase its capital expenditures.  Many of TRI’s customers are U.S. manufacturers, and TRI’s use of GSP to obtain raw materials at lower prices also makes these manufacturers more competitive. 

For TRI, and for other Washington companies like Kona Bicycle that use the GSP program, their employees, and American consumers, GSP provides significant benefits.”

Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Bill Pascrell (D-NJ): “Since the expiration of the program, small and medium-sized enterprises have borne the burden of higher costs of products imported under the GSP program.

Consider Primetac, located in Little Ferry, New Jersey, a family-owned business from my district that uses GSP-eligible goods to support their industrial packaging business. When GSP last expired, Primetac was forced to raise prices to compensate for new import taxes. This was no small increase, as the company estimates it paid about $1.5 million in new tariffs during the program’s lapse.

This legislation would provide benefits retroactively to GSP-eligible imports, so that small and medium-sized American companies like Primetac can take full advantage of the benefits of GSP and boost their business’s productivity. It is critical that we act quickly to renew this already expired program to support these firms and their employees.”

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL): “In 2017, U.S. importers enjoyed nearly $865 million in savings on import duties under the GSP program. During the same year, my home state of Florida had $1.2 billion of imports covered by the program and a total of $59 million in savings on import duties—Mr. Speaker, that’s about a 40 percent increase in savings from 2016.

I want to share the story of Mr. Bruce Price, a small business owner in my district who would benefit from renewing the GSP program. He recently told my office that he expects savings in the range of $25,000 to $45,000 per year if the program is renewed. For Mr. Bruce, that amount of savings goes a long way and makes a major difference in his business decision to hire more workers or hold off.

I commend the work that the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee has done to reinforce our commitment to free and fair trade partnerships around the world. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 4979 to help Mr. Bruce and other small business owners hire more workers.”

Clearly, Members of Congress want to know about the companies impacted by GSP and its expiration. As the GSP Coalition continues to advocate for swift, retroactive GSP renewal, we strongly encourage companies to sign up for our free GSP supporter list and answer our expiration impacts survey.

• Employ anywhere from 1 to 30,000 US employees. Small businesses dominate, with about 2/3 of companies reporting 12 or fewer workers.
• Saved anywhere from $5,000 to $3 million because of GSP in 2017, and bigger company ≠ bigger savings. The top “saver” was an SME; while 3 of the top 6  were among those with 12 or fewer workers.
• Are headquartered in 17 states and 39 different congressional districts. New supporters come from Massachusetts and Florida and Southern California and Washington State – and everywhere in between.

Here are some of the companies that granted permission to share the details of their GSP use:

• Lawrence & Co. in New Bedford, Massachusetts has 3 employees. GSP saved it $6,000 in 2017 on imports of mica products and leather goods from India.
• RV Industries in Buford, Georgia has 30 employees and saved $200,000 in 2017 on imports of coconut products from Thailand and the Philippines. RV Industries also exports to both Canada and Mexico.
• Miami Chemical in Miami, Florida is among the small business with big GSP savings. GSP saved the 12-person company about $1 million on imports of chemicals from India, Thailand, and Turkey.
• Pioneer Square Brands‘ 110 employees makes it among the larger new supporter list companies. The Seattle, Washington-based company saved $250,000 on imports of educational accessories from Cambodia.
• Colorado Angler Supply in Aurora, Colorado has 6 employees and saved $5,000 in 2017 on imports of fishing tools and accessories from India. It also exports to Canada and South America.

It’s not just new companies: the International Bottled Water Association and the Society of American Florists both joined the supporter list this month as well.

In short, GSP supporters are as diverse as the products they import. It might be hard to find something that ties these 7 organizations together beyond their support for GSP renewal, which may help explain bipartisan support in Congress too.

But it’s hard to pass any legislation these days, so we’re always looking for new examples of how GSP benefits companies and workers throughout the United States. If your organization benefits from GSP and is not yet on the free supporter list, please take a moment to add it here. We also have an open-ended survey where companies can share specific impacts of GSP expiration here.

Who benefits the most from GSP? Globally engaged small businesses. Over 80 percent of the GSP supporter list companies have 100 or fewer employees. The typical company has 15 employees and saved $100,000 in 2016 – a huge amount for companies of that size. GSP savings improve US export competitiveness as well: 43 percent of these GSP importers export.

Tyoga Container Company in Tioga, Pennsylvania, one of the newly added GSP supporter companies, meets nearly all of those criteria. The 78-employee company imports dunnage air bags from India and Turkey and GSP saved it $126,000 in 2016. While Tyoga does not export the products directly, “dunnage” bags are specialty products designed to hold cargo in place during shipping, meaning GSP savings further reduce costs for domestic shippers and U.S. exporters alike.

If your organization cares about GSP renewal and is not yet on the list, please take a moment to add it here now. Adding a name is free and will help the Coalition for GSP’s efforts over the coming 2 months to avoid another costly lapse in GSP benefits.

In the clip below, Senator Wyden discusses how GSP is an “economic win-win” for developing countries and U.S. manufacturers, including GSP Supporter List company Stackhouse Athletic in Salem, Oregon.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xfXQVAIjBQ]

For more recent info, below is our just-released 2015 GSP savings graphic for Oregon (all other state graphics here) and you can download our new 2015 Oregon state GSP report (all other state reports here).

Providing specific examples of constituents benefiting from GSP is one of the best ways to educate Members of Congress about the importance of the GSP program. This is particularly true with GSP’s current authorization set to expire at the end of 2017. If you are a GSP importer – in Oregon or anywhere else – please add your name to our free GSP supporter list so we can build support for uninterrupted GSP renewal early next year.

Select artisans in India working with GSP importer WorldFinds

While we generally focus on the benefits to U.S. companies of the GSP program, it is important to remember that sourcing from GSP countries has a positive impact on the lives of workers and their families in developing countries. Sometimes, the benefits to poor workers come simply from having a job that otherwise would not exist without the additional U.S. demand created by GSP. Often times, though, U.S. companies importing under GSP choose to go above and beyond in terms of promoting development.

For example, Preferred Brands International in Stamford, Connecticut imports ready-to-eat food products from India. The company cares about more than just increasing sales of its Tasty Bite brand foods: it uses its 23-acre farm in India as a demonstration location to teach best practices in organic and sustainable farming and has a number of community initiatives such as a scholarship fund for factory workers’ children.

Similarly, Nina Designs in Emeryville, California imports fair trade jewelry from multiple GSP countries. This small business has funded $115,000 in microloans to more more than 150 women artisans in 20 developing countries, most of which are GSP beneficiaries. One of the company’s microloan partners is Novica (also on the GSP Supporter List), which has sent more than $68 million to artisans around the world. Nina Designs’ commitment to employees is simply inspirational.

The examples of the companies above run counter to what nearly all trade critics think about imports from lower-wage countries. While GSP and programs like it help make such development possible, they are not guaranteed. For example, WorldFinds in Westmont, Illinois paid $6,000 in extra taxes in the first month after GSP expired in 2013. In the words of founder Kelly Weinberger:

“These tariffs are paralyzing us as a small fair trade business with limited resources and an already tight clash flow. Suddenly a huge amount of money needs to be reallocated to pay tariffs instead of being able to order more product from our low-income artisan groups.”

So while GSP benefits help economic development both at home and abroad (such as WorldFinds artisans pictured above), GSP expiration can quickly reverse those gains. That is just one more reason that Congress must pass legislation to renew GSP early next year to prevent another expiration when its authorization expires on December 31, 2017.

This post is part of the 5th Annual “Imports Work for America Week.“ For more information visit the Imports Work website.

K2 Coolers is one of the nearly 700 companies and associations that have come out in support of GSP renewal – and not the only supporter list company mentioned during the mark up. In his introduction of the bill, Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) noted that GSP renewal would help companies like The Cannon Group in Westerville grow their businesses and “ultimately create jobs.”

Be sure to watch the clip of Dr. Boustany’s remarks and if you’re active on Twitter, please click here and retweet him!

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.

Nearly 340 organizations in 41 states (plus DC) have now joined the supporter list. You can see them all here. If you’re not on the list but want Congress to renew GSP, be sure to add your name here so we can keep highlighting the importance of GSP to the different states and congressional districts.

They come from 10 states and 17 congressional districts. Half of them are very small businesses with 10 or fewer employees – the types of companies that can least afford a significant tax hike! In fact, the largest of the companies has 130 workers. (Keep in mind the U.S. government classifies “small or medium-sized companies” as those with less than 500 employees.)

Since they were just hours too late to make it onto the letter, we’ve listed them below to make sure they get their proper due. You can see the entire list here. Remember, we’ll keep updating the list until Congress renews GSP, so make sure to add your name here if you’re not already on it!

So without further ado, here are the new GSP organizations:

• Artistic Tile (Secaucus, NJ)
• Avani Granite & Marble, Inc. (Houston, TX)
• C.A.S. Iberia Inc. (Sale Creek, TN)
• Chemlock Metals Corporation (Cincinatti, OH)
• Dayna Designs (Westminster, MD)
• Eastland Food Corp (Jessup, MD)
• Franklin Mfg. Inc. (Jericho, NY)
• HaloPolymer Trading Inc. (Houston, TX)
• ICC USA (Louisville, KY)
• Jubilant Life Sciences USA Inc. (Bedminster, NJ)
• Kamali Global Inc (Manhasset, NY)
• Kerr-Hays Company (Ligonier, PA)
• Mercer Tool Corp. (Deer Park, NY)
• Mitusha International Corp. (Dover, DE)
• NYAG Inc (New York, NY)
• Oriental Rug Importers Association (Secaucus, NJ)
• Reading Alloys (Robesonia, PA)
• Shipyard Supply, LLC (Metairie, LA)
• Steel and Wire Products (Baltimore, MD)
• TRI-K Industries Inc. (Denville, NJ)

Yet despite their differences, both New York/St. Louis-based Macy‘s and Louisiana-based CorrPak BPS have called on Congress to renew the GSP program before it expires on July 31.  Why? Because big or small, retailer or industrial supplier, parade-sponsor or otherwise, companies need to meet customer demands for high-quality products at the lowest possible price – and GSP helps them do it.

But if Congress doesn’t act soon, both these companies (and many others) will face higher taxes starting on August 1.