Two New Bills Relating to US Trade Introduced in Congress

Last week, two significant pieces of legislation with impact on the trade community were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bill Introduced to Reinstate the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program

On April 15, 2024, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the GSP Reform Act (H.R. 7986) to authorize the reinstatement of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) trade program retroactively to December 31, 2020, with an expiry of December 31, 2030. This bill may or may not move forward as Congress considers its provisions. We will be watching the developments to prepare for potential efforts to secure the permitted refunds if it passes.

The bill authorizes refunds retroactively. From past experience, this means if the special program indicator (SPI) was flagged for eligible products at the time of entry summary filing,
CBP will identify those entries and process the refunds. Entries for eligible products that were not flagged may have a post-summary correction (PSC) or protest filed within the time periods
for those options. We anticipate that entries not flagged and beyond the protest period will have no remedy to request a refund.

Importers should evaluate their participation in the GSP and discuss the flagging status for eligible products with their Schenker brokerage contact.

U.S. Congress Introduces New Foreign Trade Zone Legislation

On April 17, 2024, a bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives introduced H.R. 8059, the “U.S.Foreign Trade Zone Parity Act of 2024”. This bill is similar to provisions included in the Americas
Act, S.3878, which was introduced to the Senate last month.

This legislation will give U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones (U.S. FTZs) the same access to Section 321 benefits that foreign warehouses presently enjoy. Section 321 permits duty-free entry for
shipments that fall under the de minimis value of USD $800, but good distributed from FTZs are currently prohibited from using this statute. By allowing de minimis entries from FTZs, the proposed bill eliminates the incentive to distribute e-commerce shipments from foreign countries. In addition, it improves compliance oversight, as these facilities operate under CBP regulations.

The path from bill to law is a lengthy one, but Schenker will continue to monitor the legislation’s progress and provide any relevant updates that emerge.

For more details, please refer to the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones’ press release:

NAFTZ applauds introduction of the "U.S. Foreign Trade Zone Parity Act of 2024"

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Two New Bills Relating to US Trade Introduced in Congress