Six Products Set to Lose GSP Eligibility, Following USTR Annual Review
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, as part of its 2015/2016 Generalized System of Preferences Annual Product Review, published a breakdown of 2015 import statistics (here). The agency lists six items set to be removed from GSP eligibility (though four have pending petitions for waivers), 103 products eligible for a de minimis waiver, and 145 non-GSP-eligible products that might be reconsidered for GSP designation. Re-designations could be given based on 2015 trade data and consideration of certain statutory factors, USTR said. USTR will accept public comments until April 1 regarding possible de minimis competitive needs limitation waivers (CNL) and potential re-designations, the agency said in a notice (here).
Because they exceeded a CNL by having been imported into the U.S. in 2015 for more than $170 million, or in a “quantity equal to or greater than 50 percent of the total U.S. import value for this product in 2015,” the following products are slated to be removed from GSP eligibility for the subject countries on July 1, and were not the subject of a petition for a CNL waiver:
- 2202.90.36 – Single unfortified fruit or vegetable juice (other than orange), fortified with vitamins and minerals, imported from the Philippines.
- 7325.91.00 – Iron or steel, cast grinding balls and similar articles for mills, imported from India.
The following products have pending petitions for CNL waivers submitted during the petition acceptance period, and will be removed from GSP eligibility on July 1, unless a presidential waiver is granted:
- 0804.10.60 – Fresh or dried whole dates without pits, packed in units weighing over 4.6 kg, imported from Tunisia.
- 2102.20.60 – Dead single-cell micro-organisms, excluding yeasts (but not including vaccines of heading 3002), imported from Brazil.
- 2202.90.90 – Nonalcoholic beverages, not including fruit or vegetable juices of heading 2009, imported from Thailand.
- 8708.50.95 – Parts and access of motor vehicle of 8701, nesoi, 8702 and 8704-8705, half-shafts, imported from India.
See USTR's breakdown of import statistics for the list of Items from beneficiary developing countries above 50 percent CNL but eligible for de minimis waivers, as well as the list of products from beneficiary developing countries that aren’t currently eligible for duty-free treatment, but may now be reconsidered for GSP benefits.