Trade Community Calls For GSP Renewal

NCBFAA joined with nearly 50 other companies and organizations in sending an Open Letter to Congress on the urgent need to renew GSP before it expires at the end of the year. "GSP has become an integral component of American manufacturing competitiveness at the same time it lowers costs of consumer goods to American families," the letter explained. "GSP duty savings frequently make the difference between profitability and survival of American companies, many of them small businesses, in a highly competitive U.S. marketplace."

The letter was sent to all members of Congress in an effort to revive momentum for GSP renewal. Complicating renewal is a $1 billion price tag that must be offset, a crowded Congressional agenda in an election year and the desire among some key lawmakers to make substantive changes to the program to make it more responsive to the least developed countries.