Congress Should Move Quickly on GSP Renewal, Other Tweaks, Companies Tell Trade Committees
Lawmakers should act quickly to renew the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program before it expires at the end of 2020, more than 200 companies and trade associations said in a June 16 letter to the leaders of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees. “Further uncertainty about whether companies will have to pay millions of dollars a day in new taxes in January 2021 is the last thing the American business community needs,” they said.
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Though GSP renewal is the top priority, Congress can take other steps that could further reduce related tariff burdens, the Coalition for GSP said in a news release. “Lost GSP benefits for India and Turkey cost American companies as much as $375 million in new taxes between May 2019 and April 2020,” the letter said. “A partial suspension for Thailand in April 2020 will add millions of dollars more each month in extra taxes.” Also, “American companies paid about $100 million in tariffs in 2019 on individual products that meet the statutory thresholds for reinstated GSP benefits, but all redesignation requests were rejected during the current review. Restoring lost GSP eligibility for these products would provide significant benefits to American companies and workers.”