We need members to contact Congress to urge them to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program before it expires on Dec. 31, 2020. Under GSP, U.S. travel goods imports from developing countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan enter the U.S. duty-free. In the first nine months of 2020, U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries increased 19.7%, supplying 15.3% of all U.S. travel goods imports. It takes only a few minutes to complete so we urge you to contact Congress today!

On December 4, TGA joined more than 200 other organizations urging Congress to approve the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) before the end of the year. The MTB would allow certain U.S. travel goods imports to enter the United States duty-free for three years.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, TGA joined hundreds of other organizations and companies in urging Congress to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program before it expires on Dec. 31, 2020. Under GSP, U.S. travel goods imports from developing countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan enter the U.S. duty-free. In the first nine months of 2020, the most current data available, U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries increased 19.7%, supplying 15.3% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

Earlier this week, the Federal Maritime launched an investigation into allegations of unfair detention and demurrage charges at the Ports of LA/Long Beach and at the Port of NY/NJ. The announcement comes shortly after TGA and dozens of other organizations petitioned the FMC to take action on this critical issue. The unfair charges stem from the shortage of empties and chassis and lack of dual transactions at the ports which has caused significant delays leading to unfair charges for reasons that are out of our control.

TGA is working with the Coalition for GSP to get companies to sign on to a letter urging Congress to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program now, before GSP expires on Dec. 31, 2020. The deadline for signatories is Monday, Nov. 30. The goal is to get thousands of companies from around the country to show Congress their support for GSP renewal. Under GSP, U.S. travel goods imports from developing countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan enter the U.S. duty-free. In the first nine months of 2020, the most current data available, U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries increased 19.7%, supplying 15.3% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

On Nov. 12, TGA submitted comments opposing punitive tariffs on U.S. travel goods imports from Vietnam under the Trump administration’s Section 301 investigation of Vietnam. In the first nine months of 2020, the most current data available, U.S. travel goods imports from Vietnam increased 17.7%, making Vietnam the 2nd largest supplier of travel goods to the U.S. market, supplying 19.0% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

On Nov. 16, TGA joined dozens of organizations in urging the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to stop the growing scourge of unfair detention and demurrage charges against cargo owners (manufacturers like you) for delays that are completely out of their control.

On Nov. 6, the U.S. government published import data for September 2020. U.S. travel goods imports (as described under HTS Heading 4202 – click links to get specific import data on luggage, backpacks, flatgoods, handbags, business cases/laptop bags, and travel bags) slid 23.2% (by volume) in the first nine months of 2020. In addition to the obvious impact of COVID-19 on the industry, the latest import numbers show the accelerating trend away from China. In the first nine months of 2020, U.S. travel goods imports from China fell 37.1%, with China accounting for only 57.9% of total U.S. travel goods imports. For comparison, in 2016, China accounted for 84.7% of all U.S. travel goods imports. Meanwhile, despite the pandemic, U.S. travel goods imports from #2 supplier Vietnam (17.7%), #3 Cambodia (21.2%), #4 Burma (Myanmar) (107.8%), and #8 Mexico (5.3%) surged in the first eight months of 2020. In fact, U.S. travel goods imports from Vietnam now account for 19.0% of all U.S. travel goods imports, followed by #3 Cambodia (7.6%), #4 Burma (Myanmar) (3.8%), #5 India (3.2%), and #6 Indonesia (1.4%). U.S. imports of travel goods account for approximately 99% of the U.S. travel goods market.

TGA urges all members to submit comments (see draft template) opposing punitive tariffs on U.S. travel goods imports from Vietnam under the Trump administration’s Section 301 investigation of Vietnam. You can submit comments here. The deadline to submit comments is November 12. TGA also urges members to sign on to an industry letter opposing tariffs on Vietnam. Please let TGA’s Nate Herman know if your company wants to join the industry letter by November 10 (all we need is your company name). In the first 8 months of 2020, the most current data available, U.S. travel goods imports from Vietnam increased 16.4%, making Vietnam the 2nd largest supplier of travel goods to the U.S. market, supplying 18.4% of all U.S. travel goods imports.

On October 30, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the results of its annual Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) review. While USTR did remove some benefits from Thailand, it did NOT remove any GSP benefits for U.S. imports of travel goods from Thailand. In addition, USTR ended a review of Indonesia’s GSP preferences without action, meaning U.S. imports of travel goods from Indonesia can still enter duty-free under GSP.

The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program is set to expire on December 31, 2020 unless Congress acts to renew GSP before the end of this year. We need you, and all of your colleagues, to send letters to your members of Congress urging them to renew GSP before the end of this year. The letter should only take one minute to send. Under GSP, U.S. travel goods imports from developing countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan enter the United States duty-free. In the first 8 months of 2020, the most current data available, U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries increased 27.3%, supplying 15.5% of all U.S. travel goods imports.