Legislation Introduced Would Add Footwear to GSP for First Time
Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., introduced a bill on May 25 that would qualify footwear classified in over 20 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings in Chapter 64 for Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) treatment for the first time in the program’s more than 40-year history. The legislation, H.R. 2735, would also require the executive branch to conduct six annual studies of the state of the U.S. footwear industry, focusing on yearly changes to categories of domestic footwear. The bill would require the International Trade Commission to inform that report by examining current production of "like or directly competitive articles" and to identify any articles for which domestic production is likely to occur within the next year at a commercial level.
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The legislation is meant to extend duty-free preferences to types of footwear not manufactured in the U.S., Smith said in an emailed statement. "By eliminating these unnecessary tariffs, we can increase the purchasing power of U.S. consumers while also strengthening the economies of developing countries," he said. American Apparel and Footwear Association CEO Rick Helfenbein lauded the legislation in a statement (here). The “small but critical changes” the bill would make would “carefully avoid” impacting domestic products, he said. "These are small steps toward what ultimately can be a larger review of the GSP program, and the opportunity to update the 42-year-old trade program,” Helfenbein said. “In addition, we urge Congress to quickly move forward with the underlying GSP renewal legislation, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the year."
GSP beneficiary developing countries, including 15 “least-developed beneficiary developing countries,” are responsible for 6.7 percent of footwear imports to the U.S., and providing duty-free treatment could promote more footwear production and economic growth in those nations, the bill text says. As of 2015, 66 of the 124 countries designated as BDCs under GSP export goods classified in HTS Chapter 64 to the U.S.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the legislation.