Industry News

Andean Trade Bill and Trade Adjustment Assistance Receive Six Week Extension, GSP Still Set to Expire December 31

December 23, 2010


On December 22, 2010 the Senate passed a compromise bill to extend the Andean Trade Benefits/Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPA/ATPDEA) as well as Trade Adjustment Assistance for six weeks. The House quickly approved the Senate’s amended version of H.R. 6517 (the Omnibus Trade Act). Without this extension, both programs would have expired on December 31, 2010. The compromise bill extends the ATPA/ATPDEA through February 12, 2011 for Columbia and Ecuador, but does not provide an extension for Peru. A U.S.-Peru free trade agreement entered into force February 1, 2009.

The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program remains set to expire on December 31, 2010 for beneficiary countries other than those listed as African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary countries. It has been unable to overcome Senator Jeff Sessions’ objections to duty-free treatment of sleeping bags from Bangladesh, which he argues will injure Exxel Outdoors Inc., a company that has a factory in Alabama with 68 employees. According to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the exclusion of the GSP from this package means that the program will lapse on December 31. GSP currently provides duty-free treatment for approximately 4,800 goods produced in 120 developing countries, covering about $20 billion worth of trade. Expiration of the GSP program means that the United States will start collecting duties on those imports on January 1, 2011.

The Second Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, which was included in the House’s original version of H.R. 6517, was left out of the final version. The original bill contained hundreds of temporary duty suspensions as well as technical corrections.

For further information, contact a Barnes/Richardson attorney.