On Wednesday, November 20, 2019, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office released in Federal Register Notice 84 FR 64180 the results of the annual Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) review with respect to products considered for removal from the list of eligible products for certain beneficiary countries. This review includes the competitive needs limitations (CNLs), including petitions for waivers of CNLs and requests to reinstate/predesignate products previously excluded from GSP eligibility.
Each year, the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) reviews the list of products eligible for GSP benefits and makes recommendations based on statutory criteria, including exclusions from duty-free treatment of products from certain countries when they have reached the statutory CNL threshold. The statute provides for exclusion when, during any calendar year, the GSP beneficiary has exported to the U.S. a quantity of an eligible article that:
- is greater than a specified amount ($185 million for 2018)
or
- exceeds 50 percent of the appraised value of the total U.S. imports of that article,
The president “shall terminate the duty-free treatment of the article” from that beneficiary, unless a waiver is granted. The CNL can be waived if the United States Trade Commission advises that an industry in the United States is likely to be adversely affected or that the waiver is in the interest of the national economy. The 50% CNL may also be disregarded if the total imports of an article did not exceed a de minimis amount ($24 million in 2018), or the product was not produced in the United States in any of the three preceding calendar years.
The TPSC reviewed:
- Petitions to remove the GSP eligibility of two products
- Three petitions to predesignate products previously excluded from GSP eligibility for certain beneficiary countries
- Petitions to waive CNLs for two products
- Twenty-seven products eligible for one year de minimis waivers of CNLs
We recommend companies importing from GSP beneficiary countries review the GSP 2019 Review Results to see if you will be effected.
For more information, please contact your local Noatum Logistics USA (Formerly MIQ Logistics) representative.