“The apparel and footwear industry encourages Congress to quickly pass H.R. 8906 to support American companies that are committed to the values of the Generalised System of Preferences programme, and to help mitigate the costs faced by our nation’s supply chains,” Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, said in a press release by the AAFA. “The past few years have seen continuing disruption to supply chains, most recently the threat of work stoppages at our nation’s ports and along our rail lines. Refunding tariff costs on products that should already be duty free allows our members to focus their attention on these supply chain issues and enables companies to keep workers employed. While long-term renewal of the GSP programme is still a top priority, this bill would provide companies with stop-gap relief as they continue to support the American economy.”
The GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme. It is designed to support economic development in select developing countries by removing tariff barriers on qualifying products, while supporting worker rights, intellectual property protection, and the rule of law in these beneficiary countries.
Historically, the GSP programme has garnered bipartisan and bicameral support since its inception in 1974 as the programme requires Congressional re-authorisation. The refunding of tariffs collected during prior gaps in the programme’s operation has been common in previous renewal bills, added the release.
AAFA has been a vocal supporter of the GSP programme. Most recently, AAFA was one of more than 270 organisations to send a letter to Congressional leadership in May 2022 asking for its renewal.
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