TGA Urges Congress to Renew GSP Today
On September 21, TGA joined dozens of TGA members and hundreds of other organizations in urging Congress to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program this fall. GSP expired on December 31, 2020, meaning that U.S. travel goods imports from a wide range of developing countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan, have paid full duties since January 1, 2021. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued instructions on how importers can retain the right to collect refunds of duties paid if GSP is retroactively renewed. In 2020, U.S. travel goods imports from GSP countries increased 8.4%. GSP countries supply 16.3% of all U.S. travel goods imports today.