exports by the end of 2014. American
companies should be aware of and take
advantage of the export/import, services,
investment, and other opportunities these
new FTAs present to them.
Preferences (GSP)
program has, since 1975 when enacted
as part of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
U.S.C. § 2461), provided duty-free
treatment to imports of designated
products from designated beneficiary
developing countries. Because the
statutory authority for the GSP program
lapsed on December 31, 2010, Congress
enacted H.R. 2832 (P.L. 112-40),
renewing and extending the GSP
program through July 31, 2013.
As in the past, the legislation
retroactively provides for GSP treatment
for entries of goods made during the
time that GSP had lapsed. Thus, entries
that would have been GSP-eligible
made after December 31, 2010 and
before November 5, 2011 (the 15th day
after enactment of the GSP renewal
law) may be liquidated or reliquidated
with preferential tariff treatment if a
request for GSP treatment is filed with
U.S. Customs by April 18, 2011 (i.e.,
180 days after the enactment date of
October 21, 2011) and the request
contains sufficient information to enable
U.S. Customs to locate the entry or to
reconstruct the entry if it cannot be
located. Customs will pay duty refunds,
without interest, for such GSP-eligible
entries not later than 90 days after the
liquidation or reliquidation.
act (aTPa)
was first enacted in 1991. It provides
preferential tariff treatment to imports
from designated Andean countries
(Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia) as
a way to provide sustainable economic
alternatives to drug-crop production
in those countries. Current ATPA
Ecuador. Colombia's ATPA eligibility
will end when the US-Colombia Free
Trade Agreement comes into force.
ATPA-eligibility for Bolivia was
suspended in 2008, and Peru's eligibility
expired at the end of 2010 and was not
renewed because the US-Peru Free
Trade Agreement is now in force.
The APTA expired at the end of
December 2010, but Congress passed a
six-week extension of the program that
ended on February 12, 2011. As Title V
(Section 501) to the US-Colombia Trade
Promotion Agreement Implementation
Act (H.R. 3078; P.L. 112-42), Congress
renewed and extended ATPA tariff
preferences through July 31, 2013.
As with GSP-eligible entries,
Congress provided for retroactive
preferential tariff treatment for entries
of ATPA-eligible goods made during
the time that the ATPA had lapsed.
Thus, ATPA-eligible entries made after
February 12, 2011 and before November
5, 2011 (the 15th day after enactment of
the ATPA renewal law) may be liquidated
or reliquidated with preferential tariff
treatment if a request for ATPA treatment
is filed with U.S. Customs by April 18,
2011 (i.e., 180 days after the enactment
date of October 21, 2011) and the
request contains sufficient information to
enable U.S. Customs to locate the entry
or to reconstruct the entry if it cannot be
located. As with retroactive GSP entries,
Customs will pay duty refunds, without
interest, for ATPA-eligible entries not
later than 90 days after the liquidation
or reliquidation.
(Taa)
provide job-training and income
assistance to workers, firms, farmers,
and fishermen that have been adversely
affected by foreign trade through
increased import competition and
offshoring of jobs. TAA was originally
established in 1962 and was codified
in the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. §
2271). The TAA law was last amended
in 2009 to improve its efficiency,
expanding the pool of eligible TAA
beneficiaries to include workers in the
services sector and workers harmed by
a shift in production to countries other
than free trade agreement partners.
The 2009 TAA amendments, however,
expired in February 2011.
Included in the trade legislation
signed October 21, 2001, was the Trade
Adjustment Assistance Extension Act
of 2011 (H.R. 2832; P.L. 112-40) in
which Congress renewed (with certain
modifications from the 2009 legislation)
job retraining, monetary benefits, and
other services for U.S. workers, firms,
farmers, and fishermen adversely
affected by global competition. H.R.
2832 (P.L. 112-40) extended TAA
programs through December 31, 2013.
The renewed TAA for Workers program
provides job training and unemployment
benefits to qualified individuals for up
to 117 weeks. The TAA Extension Act
continues to cover service workers,
as well as manufacturing workers
and workers whose jobs have shifted
to China, India, and other countries.
Certain elements have been eliminated
from TAA coverage, however, including
public sector workers (included under
the 2009 law), certain formerly-allowed
justifications for waivers from training
requirements, most of the TAA for
Communities program, and (after 2013)
a 72.5 percent health care tax credit.
by President Obama on October 21,
2011 is a significant package and
another tool for U.S. companies to
expand their export opportunities and
take advantage of reduced costs on
imports. Important parts of U.S. trade
policy that had lapsed legislatively
have been restored including trade
preferences for developing countries and
certain Andean countries and assistance
to workers displaced by expanding trade
of goods and services.