In the first six months of expiration, American companies paid at least $480 million in extra taxes as a result of GSP expiration. Companies in 34 states (plus Puerto Rico) paid at least $1 million in tariffs from January-June 2021 due to GSP expiration. The map below shows estimated tariffs for products claiming GSP paid by state in that period.

June was the most expensive month of GSP expiration yet for 12 states: Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. For Alabama, Colorado, and Delaware, each new month has been the most expensive one yet (e.g., June was more than May, which was more than April, which was more than March…).

The data on tariffs paid is a conservative estimate, and the real figure likely is higher. Why? Estimates only capture products that continued to claim GSP despite expiration. Yet imports of many products that traditionally get GSP have not claimed it in 2021. Tariffs paid on those imports still would be eligible for refunds in the event of a retroactive renewal, but importers would need to file manual requests.

It is critical that Congress renew GSP – with refunds for tariffs paid – as soon as possible. We strongly encourage GSP importers hurt by expiration to answer our new survey here . As always, no company-specific details will be published without permission. Companies that want to help the Coalition for GSP educate policymakers on the importance of GSP should also join the Coalition for GSP and/or add their name to the free GSP supporter list.

In the first two months of expiration, American companies paid at least $135 million in extra taxes as a result of GSP expiration. The map below shows estimated tariffs for products claiming GSP paid by state.

The products facing the most new tariffs vary greatly by state:

• In New York, gold jewelry faced $2.4 million in new tariffs.
• In Florida, roses faced another $2.2 million in new tariffs due to GSP expiration (on top of $1.8 million in January) in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.
• In Texas, nearly $800,000 in tariffs were paid on plywood.
• In Pennsylvania, nearly $400,000 in tariffs were paid on colored pencils.
• In Ohio, $200,000 in tariffs were paid on wire harnesses used in auto manufacturing.

The data on tariffs paid is a conservative estimate, and the real figure likely is millions of dollars more. Why? Estimates only capture products that continued to claim GSP despite expiration. Yet imports of many products that traditionally get GSP did not claim it in February. Tariffs paid on those imports still would be eligible for refunds in the event of a retroactive renewal, but importers would need to file manual requests.

GSP expiration is already costing American jobs and raising prices for American companies that need inputs and consumers that purchase finished goods. It is critical that Congress renew GSP – with refunds for tariffs paid – as soon as possible. To help the Coalition for GSP educate policymakers on who is hurt by expiration (and how), companies are strongly encouraged to:

• write their lawmakers about GSP renewal with our Contact Congress tool
• join the Coalition for GSP
• add their name to the free GSP supporter list
• answer our very short survey on GSP expiration impacts to date

California accounts for more than a quarter of GSP savings, more than the next 3 states – New York, Florida, Texas – combined. Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, and Pennsylvania round out the top 10 states for GSP savings in 2020.

Estimated GSP savings for Colorado grew from $4 million in 2019 to $14 million in 2020, by far the largest increase. Estimated GSP savings also grew in Wisconsin (+$869,000), Arkansas (+$478,000), Washington (+$300,000), Delaware (+$73,000), and Wyoming (+$34,000). Estimated savings fell in all other states.

While Covid-19 had big impacts on GSP imports in the spring, declines were largely due to country suspensions. Excluding products impacted by country suspensions (e.g., India, Turkey, Thailand), most states’ GSP savings grew. For example, New York’s GSP savings grew by $15 million on non-impacted products but fell by $2.5 million overall due to country suspensions. Similarly, Texas’ savings GSP by $9 million on non-impacted products but fell by over $7 million overall.

Since GSP expired on December 31, American likely have paid about $110 million in tariffs that previously would’ve been “GSP savings.” It is critical that Congress renew GSP – with refunds for tariffs paid – as soon as possible. To help the Coalition for GSP educate policymakers on who is hurt by expiration (and how), companies are strongly encouraged to:

• join the Coalition for GSP
• add their name to the free GSP supporter list
• answer our very short survey on GSP expiration impacts to date

To be clear: they’re not paid by the countries and haven’t achieved any other U.S. policy goals and won’t be refunded if benefits are reinstated. They’re just $500 million in new taxes on U.S. companies at a time of unprecedented economic collapse and job losses.

Above is the breakdown of estimated tariffs paid by state. Imports into California and New Jersey have faced about $50 million in new tariffs each. Companies in traditional – or newfound – election battleground states Texas, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio were all in the top 10 of tariffs paid, collectively paying up to $168 million in extra taxes.

And the taxes paid continue to climb.

The bulk of taxes – up to $366 million from June 2019 to August 2020 – have been paid on imports from India. The typical GSP importer from India had 14 employees and saved $100,000 per year. The burden falls overwhelmingly on small businesses struggling to make it through the pandemic, not the large multinational that can rapidly shift sourcing to suppliers in other countries. A report from April 2019 profiled many U.S. companies that would be hurt by termination for India (and others).

Up to $111 million in tariffs have been paid on imports from Turkey from May 2019 to August 2020. In similar comments submitted as part of the Turkey review, we noted the typical GSP importer from Turkey had 14 employees and saved about $150,000 annually. The Turkey review was launched over “market access” issues, but there were no known discussions about resolving issues. Instead, Turkey was “graduated” for sufficient economic development despite just entered a recession and having a GDP per capita that has now fallen in 5 consecutive years (the metric used to determine if countries should be graduated from GSP automatically).

Up to $23 million in tariffs have been paid on imports from Thailand from May 2020 to August 2020. Importers from Thailand tend to be a little bigger – but far from large! – with the typical importer having 28 employees and savings $183,000 annually under GSP. Most unhelpfully, the product facing the most tariffs appear to be face masks. Higher tariffs on face masks may not have seemed like a big deal when Thailand’s partial suspension was announced in October 2019, but we’re in a very different world with mask imports surging due Covid-19.

Potential GSP renewal legislation is highly unlikely to address country-specific issues, but the impacts from terminations are no less real for American companies than the prospects of expiration. If Congress considers changes to the GSP programs in the future, ensuring importers interests are not ignored in the country review processes should be a top priority.

GSP eliminates hundreds of thousands of dollars in tariffs annually on Cannon’s imports from Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The savings are passed along to Cannon’s customers, while helping those GSP countries “compete with giants like China.”

Watch CEO Frank Cannon explain how why its so important for Congress to renew GSP this year.

If you’re a GSP importer, submit your own video testimonial here.

Some states such as Georgia and North Carolina saw much larger increases in GSP imports and savings compared to the previous year, as shown in the graphic below.

GSP saved Georgia companies $3.9 million in December, up $1.3 million (49 percent) compared to one year earlier. Metal products from Brazil, luggage from Thailand,  and chemicals from India contributed the most to Georgia’s GSP savings increases.

GSP saved North Carolina companies $2.0 million in December, up $577,000 (39 percent) compared to one year earlier. Chemicals from the Philippines, furniture fittings from Thailand, and wood products from Indonesia contributed most to North Carolina’s GSP increases.

In addition to Georgia and North Carolina, companies in 26 other states saw GSP savings increase by at least 20 percent, including: California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Savings on GSP imports from Indonesia increased by 31 percent compared to December of last year. California companies’ alone imported $4.6 million in silver jewelry under GSP in December. GSP eliminated about $1.5 million in import taxes on mangoes and guavas in December. About two-thirds of those savings were on imports into New Jersey.

*** REMINDER: GSP EXPIRED EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1.***

The House passed GSP renewal legislation in February, but the Senate must pass legislation for GSP benefits to resume. Please use our Contact Congress tool to write your Senators about GSP renewal; answer our brief survey on how GSP expiration impacts you, and/or sign up for the free GSP supporter list to show the broad support for renewal.

When GSP expire in 2013, Primetac was forced to raise prices to compensate for those new import taxes. This was no small increase, as the company paid about $1.5 million in new tariffs. The resulting sales drop forced Primetac to freeze hiring, slash benefits, and delay certain investment plans.

The retroactive renewal allowed Primetac to hire 2 new hires and institute a profit-sharing plan for employees. Benefits were not limited to Primetac’s staff: it also purchased a forklift from Crown Industries in Ohio and hired a local contractor to move ahead with a lighting upgrade in its warehouse.

Primetac’s Peter Feniello emailed the other day with another update. After reiterating all the past good allowed by renewal, he added:

The other side of the argument is what we are NOT doing presently due to GSP uncertainty. We are in need of 2 hires (one in administration here in NJ, another as a territory salesperson). We are not going to move on these until the dust settles and GSP renewal is in sight.

Once again, despite expiration itself being 6 months away, companies are starting to pull back on investments and hiring.

Our Primetac profile page has more details about the importance of continued GSP benefits to the company (also available as a one-page PDF here or below).

PolySource is just one of the GSP importers sharing how GSP allows its businesses and workers to thrive on our Company Profiles page.

The companies are based in 9 different states and all small businesses. In fact, all have 40 or fewer employees and the typical one has 15 workers.

None of the companies reported eye-popping GSP savings – generally $50,000 or less in 2016 – but those savings are significant for small businesses like dZi Handmade. dZi has 10 employees and saved about $20,000 last year on imports of jewelry, holiday and religious items, incense, wind chimes, and toys from India and Nepal.

Despite their small size, companies are generally both importers and exporters. For example, NOVICA imports from Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and Thailand under GSP while exporting from the United States to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK. Collectively the new supporter list companies reported exporting to 16 countries, with Canada being the most common export destination.

The next potential GSP expiration is less than 9 months away. If you import under GSP, be sure to join our free GSP Supporter List so we can continue making the case for GSP renewal well in advance of the pending expiration date.

GSP Supporter List companies added the week of April 3, 2017:

• A Simpler Time Inc. in Morrisville, North Carolina
• dZi Handmade in Easthampton, Massachusetts
• Eppco Enterprises Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio
• Ganesh Himal Trading LLC in Spokane, Washington
• Mendelson & Associates, Inc. in Los Angeles, California
• MG Golf in Irving, Texas
• Nova Gas Technologies, Inc. in North Charleston, South Carolina
• NOVICA in Santa Monica, California
• S.N.K. Enterprises, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri
• TopFlite Manufacturing in Miami, Florida

Some states, such as Alabama and Ohio, saw particularly large increases in GSP imports and savings compared to December 2015, as shown in the graphic below.

GSP saved Alabama companies $451,000 in December, up $147,000 (48 percent) compared to one year earlier. Silicone from South Africa, PET resin from Brazil, and tungsten ores from Bolivia were among the products contributing most to Alabama’s GSP increases.

GSP saved Ohio companies $2.7 million in December, up $459,000 (21 percent) compared to one year earlier. Ferrochromium from Turkey, machining centers from Brazil, and pesticides from India contributed most to Ohio’s GSP increases.

In addition to Alabama and Ohio, companies in 18 other states saw GSP savings increase by at least 20 percent, including: Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas.

Savings on GSP imports from Egypt increased by 11 percent compared to one year earlier. New York’s purchases of olive oil were among the top GSP imports from Egypt. GSP eliminated nearly $900,000 in import taxes on mangoes and guavas in December, with California accounting for more than a quarter of those savings.

REMINDER: GSP EXPIRES AT THE END OF 2017. Click here to learn about ways to take action and support GSP renewal this year.