House, Senate Move Again on GSP Travel Goods Legislation
A bipartisan group of senators and two Republican House members introduced legislation on Feb. 3 to expand Generalized System of Preferences coverage to luggage and other travel goods. The GSP Update for Production Diversification and Trade Enhancement Act (GSP UPDATE Act) would allow U.S. companies to import duty-free a wide range of products, from some trunks and suitcases to products that fit in handbags, by carving out more than two dozen tariff lines in the harmonized schedule.
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Many of the bill’s sponsors tried to advance the bill in the last Congress, but it failed to gain momentum in either chamber (see 13121820). Industry representatives and lawmakers are still jockeying to renew the GSP program, after more than a year-and-a-half lapse (see 1501300026). The White House fiscal year 2016 budget recommends Congress extend GSP (here).
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., led the introduction again this time around. They didn't comment on whether they would seek to move the travel good bill with GSP renewal. A Trade Promotion Authority-led trade package has been discussed for months, though several lobbyists said the expected contents of an initial trade package are still unclear.
Lawmakers are floating trade bills such as this one to allow colleagues time to consider whether to support them once trade legislation starts to move, said lobbyist Ron Sorini. Sorini pointed to the recent introduction of a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process measure in the Senate as another such bill. Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., introduced that legislation, which also failed to advance in the last Congress (see 1501290002).
GSP Update garnered strong bipartisan support in both chambers last Congress. Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., co-sponsored the bill only two days after its introduction. Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, N.H., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., also jumped on board. Shaheen and Merkley led the introduction in this Congress. Wyden is likely supportive of the bill, but committee ranking members don’t typically sponsor relatively small bills like this, said Sorini.
The legislation would give a boon to U.S. industry and fuel trade with the Phillipines, Indonesia and Thailand, among others, said Crenshaw in a press release (here). Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., is also a lead co-sponsor in the House. The legislation would help combat Chinese dominance over the travel goods market, said the release.
But while the measure is nearly identical to the GSP Update Act of the 113th Congress (here), this bill’s findings differ slightly. The legislation says, as of 2013, China had 70 percent of the market share of travel good imports into the U.S., whereas the previous bill, citing 2012 statistics, said China had tackled 80 percent of the market. This bill also says fewer GSP beneficiaries export the products covered in the bill as of 2013.
American Apparel and Footwear Association President Juanita Duggan applauded the legislation in a statement. "Including travel goods such as backpacks, luggage, and phone cases, in the GSP puts our trade policy in line with today’s global economy," said Duggan (here). "The GSP Update is a bipartisan, non-controversial trade bill that Congress can act on immediately. Taking action on measures such as the GSP UPDATE Act now will offer a sign of confidence in the larger trade conversations that will quickly follow."