A newly-introduced piece of bipartisan legislation would take one of the nation’s key trade preference programs and extend it for two years to offer support to United States manufacturers.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced the bill to extend the Generalized System of Preferences, which supports international trade and reduces costs for American retailers and manufacturers by granting duty-free access to some of the products they import from developing countries.
“The Generalized System of Preferences is an important part of our trade agenda that helps build positive relationships with developing countries and fight poverty,” Baucus said. “This bill will also provide certainty to manufacturers across the U.S. who depend on duty-free imports to help them create jobs. Countries that participate in the GSP program will have to abide by our strict standards, and I’m ready to work with the administration to make sure they do. I hope we can move this bill through Congress quickly and get it signed into law so that U.S. manufacturers can continue to receive these important benefits.”
The program expired on July 31. The new bill would put GSP back into effect until Sept. 30, 2015, and a companion bill was recently introduced in the House of Representatives.
GSP opened the door for U.S. businesses to import approximately $20 billion worth of products duty-free in 2012. In total, it provides duty free access for approximately 5,000 products from developing or “least-developed” nations.
“GSP is good for the American economy, helping domestic companies save millions of dollars in tariffs and supporting much-needed job creation throughout the nation,” Hatch said. “At the same time, GSP helps developing countries around the world reduce poverty through trade. I will continue to closely monitor the Administration’s implementation of the program as well as the trade practices of the beneficiary countries to make sure they meet the statutory eligibility criteria. But, given the sluggish state of economic growth in this country, we should not allow this program to expire. That is why I’m committed to working with Chairman Baucus and my colleagues in Congress to ensure our legislation is swiftly enacted into law.”