ITC Narrows Scope of GSP Investigation After Most CNL Waiver Petitions Withdrawn

Following the withdrawal of most requests for Competitive Need Limitation waivers in the 2012 Generalized System of Preferences review, the International Trade Commission said it’s ending its investigations on the economic impact of the withdrawn CNL requests. The U.S. Trade Representative notified the ITC of the withdrawal of 11 out of 12 CNL requests originally included in the 2012 GSP review Feb. 21. All other aspects of the ITC’s GSP investigation remain unchanged, including the April 4 deadline for submission of the final report to USTR.

The sole remaining CNL request covers the following country-product combination:

• 7202.99.20 -- Calcium silicon ferroalloys (Brazil)

The withdrawn requests that are no longer part of the 2012 GSP review are as follows:

• 0410.00.00 -- Miscellaneous edible products of animal origin (Indonesia)
• 0603.13.00 -- Cut orchids (Thailand)
• 1102.90.25 -- Rice flour (Thailand)
• 2106.90.99 -- Miscellaneous prepared foods (Thailand)
• 6911.10.37 -- Porcelain or china table and kitchenware (Indonesia)
• 7202.21.50 -- Ferrosilicon with between 55% and 80% of silicon by weight (Russia)
• 7202.30.00 -- Ferrosilicon manganese (Georgia)
• 7307.21.50 -- Certain stainless steel flanges for pipes (India)
• 7307.91.50 -- Certain iron or steel flanges for pipes (India)
• 7408.29.10 -- Copper wire, coated or plated with metal (Thailand)
• 9506.70.40 -- Ice skates w/ footwear permanently attached (Thailand)

(See ITT’s Online Archives 13011829 for summary of the ITC’s institution of the investigation, and 13011125 for summary of USTR’s request. See also ITT’s Online Archives 12122717 for summary of the initiation and scheduling of the 2012 GSP Annual Product Review by USTR.)