• 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.

Overall, GSP saved U.S. companies $472 million in the first eight months of 2016. GSP savings in 2016 are up about $40 million, or 9 percent, compared to the first eight months of 2015.

Today, we want to highlight the responses to another question that had not been asked in the past, namely whether or not the products receiving duty-free benefits under GSP were later exported from the United States. Once again, the findings might surprise readers: more than half of respondents said their GSP imports are incorporated into U.S. exports.

While past reports have focused on the positive domestic impacts of GSP on American businesses and workers, this is a very important finding from a trade policy perspective. In short, renewing GSP makes U.S. exports more competitive.

Among the respondents naming specific countries, the top destinations include Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Among those naming regions, the top destinations include Europe (or EU) and Central and South America.

The preliminary results are useful, but more responses are necessary to make compelling arguments about GSP promoting U.S. exports. If you haven’t answered already, please take a moment to answer the survey here.

Just as the arrival of September means something different for each person, the way GSP expiration impacts specific companies can also vary greatly. Past research has shown that the overall cost to American companies is about $2 million per day. We won’t know the actual value for the first month of expiration until the August trade data are released in a month or so, but we can look at responses from our August recess survey to some of the company-specific impacts.

For some, expiration was felt immediately. Vortex Optics in Middleton, Wisconsin paid $150,000 in new taxes while Congress was out of DC in August, and expects to pay another $100,000 this month if GSP remains expired. Those taxes are “putting a severe financial strain” on the 100+ employee business according to Vortex Optics President Daniel Hamilton.

For others like Far East American, a Los Angeles-based importer of tropical plywood, GSP expiration hasn’t hurt…yet. Far East American didn’t import any (previously) GSP-eligible shipments in August, but the company expects to pay more than $250,000 in tariffs in September because of GSP expiration.

Finally, there are others for which GSP expiration means no imports at all. One company in Florida (that wishes to remain anonymous) must bid in the next two weeks on business for 2014. Without GSP in place for imports from Indonesia, it cannot match prices of similar goods from China and Vietnam. As a result, GSP expiration likely will cause the two-person company to lose out on a $2 million contract – a huge deal for a very small company!

These are just a handful of the survey responses, and we’ll post more in the coming days and weeks. If you’re a GSP importer, please fill out this survey so we know how expiration is impacting your company (as you can see above, there’s an option to remain anonymous).