International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 27 - July 1 in case they were missed.
The International Trade Commission on July 1 posted revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements the first round of tariff cuts under the expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, as well as the results of the U.S. Trade Representative's 2015-16 review of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), adding several "travel goods" to the program, albeit only for least developed country beneficiaries.
The U.S. government has deferred decisions for additions of travel goods produced in non-least developed beneficiary developing countries to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), bringing a disappointed response from the American Apparel and Footwear Association (here). The 2015/2016 GSP Annual Review (here) deferred decisions for 27 articles under subheading 4202 for non-LDBDCs, but granted approval for tariff benefits for the goods for GSP least developed countries and for countries benefiting from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The International Trade Commission on July 1 posted revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (here). The new HTS implements the results of the U.S. Trade Representative's 2015-16 review of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), adding several "travel goods" to the program, albeit only for least developed country beneficiaries. The ITC is also implementing the first round of tariff cuts under the expanded World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement, and adding new tariff numbers for a variety of products, including sweatshirts.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative suggested it could consider reaccepting Swaziland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as beneficiaries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if the countries make certain political reforms. Congo’s eligibility will largely depend on whether its 2016 presidential election is “free and fair,” while the U.S. is withholding benefits from Swaziland pending satisfaction of U.S. calls to protect freedom of speech and amend anti-terrorism legislation that currently functions to suppress political dissent, USTR indicated in its first biennial report of AGOA implementation required by the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (here). Notably, the report did not say how the nine other sub-Saharan countries ineligible for AGOA might regain tariff preferences.
U.S. trade preference programs have helped lower poverty and reduce hunger in several beneficiary countries, but free-trade agreements and general worldwide tariff decreases could dilute the social impacts of these trade programs, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a report released June 29 that was required by the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (here). Furthermore, tariff waivers can’t replace policy reforms needed to address bottlenecks in certain countries’ supply chains, the report says. The report also summarizes how specific products and countries have fared after implementation of preference programs: for instance, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius and Madagascar accounted for 92 percent of all U.S. apparel imports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act last year. USTR also touted several preference program “success stories,” such as Ethiopia’s surge in shoe exports to the U.S. under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from $630,000 in 2011 to $20 million 2015, a number that continues to rise.
The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of June 20-26:
The U.S. should work toward removing Burmese individuals and entities from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), add Myanmar to its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, and launch dialogue on concluding a bilateral investment treaty between the two countries, a white paper released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said (here). “The initial U.S. easing of sanctions has encouraged a small number of U.S. businesses to invest or consider investing in Myanmar after a prolonged absence,” the paper says. “In the last four years, trade with Myanmar has increased to its highest levels in decades, and U.S. companies, brands, and products have provided both jobs and training opportunities and their goods and services now line store shelves and are available throughout the country.” U.S. companies are worried about doing even legitimate business in the country because of existing sanctions, and Burmese citizens are frustrated with low U.S. commercial investment and limited export opportunities, attributing these situations to restrictive U.S. sanctions and tax and tariff policies, the paper says.
The International Trade Commission on May 27 released the public version of its report to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on potential changes to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program for 2015/2016, it said in a press release (here). The 253-page report (here), 207 pages longer than last year's, includes data related to potential additions of products for all GSP beneficiary countries under subheadings 2204.21.20 (effervescent wine), 3301.13.00 (essential oil of lemon), and 7202.11.50 (ferromanganese containing by weight more than 4 percent of carbon). For potential addition of products under least-developed beneficiary developing countries and African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) countries, the report includes data on the 29 subheadings for certain handbags and travel goods products under heading 4202. The report will inform USTR’s 2015/2016 GSP Review. The advice contained in the report is confidential.
It's time for companies to "re-double their efforts to show the importance of renewing [the Generalized System of Preferences] before it expires again on December 31, 2017," said the Coalition for GSP in a blog post (here). As part of the effort, the group released reports on 2015 GSP-related imports, savings, and benefits for companies in all 50 states (here). Congress last renewed GSP in 2015 (see 1506250019), some two years after it expired.