From Washington

We need you, your staff, your colleagues, your friends, and your family to urge Congress to approve the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program this year, or provide immediate relief. It only takes 2 minutes to send letters to your members of Congress. TGA is conducting a series of virtual (Zoom) lobbying meetings with Congressional offices on GSP. Please contact TGA’s Nate Herman if you are interested in participating in the virtual (Zoom) lobby meetings or would like to learn more. GSP has now been expired for 20 months. Short of renewal, TGA urges Congress to approve the GSP “Refund-Only” bill (H.R. 8906), which would immediately refund to TGA members the duties paid on U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries from January 1, 2021 to August 30, 2022, to provide some immediate relief to our industry as we wait for Congress to conclude its negotiations over TGA renewal. GSP provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for travel goods from developing countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, etc.). Today, GSP countries supply 20% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

On October 10, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED), which represents 12,000 of the 110,000 total rail workers, rejected a tentative contract with the railroads (BMWED announcement, railroad response). The two sides will try to negotiate a new contract during the cooling off period, which ends November 14. The union could call a strike after November 14. The rank and file of four of the 12 rail worker unions have formally ratified the contract to date. The remainder of the unions, including the two biggest, have until mid-November to ratify the contract. On September 15, after President Biden intervened, the railroads and rail workers reached a tentative deal. The deal came after TGA and others urged Congress to step in to prevent a strike. To keep up pressure to ratify the deal, TGA urges you, your staff, your colleagues, your family, and your friends to urge Congress to make sure the deal is finalized and a strike is averted. It only takes one minute through this link to send letters.

On October 4, TGA joined 171 other industry groups in urging the Biden administration to renew the China Section 301 tariff exclusion process. U.S. travel goods imports from China today are still subject to 25% punitive tariffs. As of September 14, American companies paid more China Section 301 duties under the Biden administration than under the Trump administration.

We need you, your staff, your colleagues, your friends, and your family to urge Congress to approve the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program this year, or provide immediate relief. It only takes 2 minutes to send letters to your members of Congress. GSP has now been expired for 20 months. Short of renewal, TGA urges Congress to approve the GSP “Refund-Only” bill (H.R. 8906), which would immediately refund to TGA members the duties paid on U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries from January 1, 2021 to August 30, 2022, to provide some immediate relief to our industry as we wait for Congress to conclude its negotiations over GSP renewal. GSP provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for travel goods from developing countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, etc.). Today, GSP countries supply 20% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

On September 28, TGA urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate widespread false leather claims for products sold on the Amazon marketplace. The letter argues that products making false leather claims have an unfair competitive advantage over TGA members when members are already facing the twin challenge of a supply chain crisis and rising inflation.

TGA has drafted a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate widespread false leather claims for products sold on the Amazon marketplace. The letter argues the products making false leather claims have an unfair competitive advantage over TGA members when members are already facing the twin challenge of a supply chain crisis and rising inflation. Please provide feedback on the draft letter by COB next Thursday, September 29, and please share any other examples you have found of false leather claims that we can add to the appendix.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — September 21, 2022 — The Travel Goods Association (TGA) applauds Monday night’s introduction of the GSP “Refund-Only” Bill (H.R. 8906) in Congress. The GSP “Refund-Only” Bill would refund more than $700 million in tariffs paid ON luggage, handbags, backpacks, cases, wallets, and hundreds of other products due to the expiration of the popular Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program on December 31, 2020.

“The travel goods industry, comprised mostly of small and medium-sized family-owned businesses and our 100,000 American workers, faces strong headwinds of spiraling inflation and a worsening supply chain crisis as we enter the critical holiday shopping season,” said Michele Marini Pittenger, President of the Travel Goods Association. “That is why we need Congress to act quickly to approve the GSP “Refund-Only” Bill to help our industry at a time when we need it most by providing refunds on the millions of dollars in tariffs our members have been forced to pay since GSP has expired.”

“Today, one fifth of all U.S. travel goods imports come from developing countries that qualify for benefits under the GSP program, which establishes strong labor, market access, and intellectual property rights (IPR) requirements for beneficiary countries. Congress should renew GSP immediately. In lieu of immediate renewal, immediate passage of this bill would provide companies that have committed to these countries with the support to continue to grow and build the industry.”

GSP is the largest and oldest U.S. trade preference program. It is designed to support economic development in select developing countries by removing tariff barriers on qualifying products, while supporting worker rights, intellectual property protection, and market access in these beneficiary countries. Historically, the GSP program has garnered overwhelming bipartisan support from its inception in 1974 and in the many Congressional re-authorizations since. The refunding of tariffs collected during prior gaps in the program’s operation has been common in previous renewal bills.

TGA strongly supports renewal of GSP, including joining 270 groups in a letter to Congressional leadership in May 2022 asking for GSP renewal.

For more information on GSP, please contact TGA’s Nate Herman, nate@travel-goods.org, 301-775-7633.

On September 20, the Coalition for GSP — of which TGA is a member — will hold a lobby day in Washington, D.C. It is open to all U.S. importers and there is no cost to attend, so we strongly encourage you to participate and share the importance of GSP to your company. If you can attend, please register here as soon as possible. The meetings are timely: new legislation will be introduced shortly that could refund over $700 million in tariffs paid on luggage, handbags, backpacks, cases, wallets, etc. due to GSP expiration. We will ask Congressional offices to support that legislation as the bare minimum Congress should do this year (i.e., if no larger renewal deal can be reached). Please contact TGA’s Nate Herman if you have any questions or if you plan to attend the September 20 lobby day.

We had an interesting summer as an industry. Despite many headaches for our customers, travel this summer returned with a vengeance. And everyone went back to school in person this fall, leading to brisk sales of backpacks and related gear. This great news remains tempered, however, by ongoing congestion issues, high tariffs caused by Congress’ failure to renew GSP and the ongoing trade war, and more recently, the threat of growing inflation. So, where do we stand as we enter fall and the critical holiday shopping season? Read more in Capital Beat.

Over the summer, dozens of new California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) “60-day” notices have been issued alleging that brands and retailers sold in California totes, travel bags, crossbody bags, organizer bags, phone/passport cases/bags, wallets, travel bottles, pet carriers, backpacks, and handbags that contained di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Hexavalent Chromium (Chrome VI), Bisphenol A (BPA), Di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and diisononyl phthalate (DINP) in violation of a California law known as Proposition 65 (Prop 65). The notices serve as intent to bring lawsuits against manufacturers and retailers that made and sold these products. Check out TGA’s member-only California Proposition 65 (Prop 65) Best Practices Guidance on the Prop 65 page on the TGA website. This member-only guidance details best practices in developing your company’s Prop 65 testing and warning label protocol, including recommendations on which warning label text to use, where to place the warning label text, and how to test for Prop 65 listed chemicals in your products. For more information on Prop 65, please contact TGA’s Nate Herman, nate@travel-goods.org, 301-775-7633.