USTR announced the disposition of the product petitions accepted for review in the 2006 GSP Annual Product Review, the results of the 2006 Country Practices Review, the results of the 2006 De Minimis Waiver and Redesignation Reviews, the 2006 Competitive Need Limitation (CNL) Removals and certain CNL waiver revocations.
As you know, the GSP program provides for the duty-free importation of designated articles when imported from designated beneficiary developing countries (BDCs). The Trade Act of 1974 sets out the two competitive need limitations (CNLs). When the President determines that a BDC exported to the United States during a calendar year either (1) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value in excess of the applicable amount for that year, or (2) a quantity of a GSP-eligible article having a value equal to or greater than 50 percent of the value of total U.S. imports of the article from all countries (the “50 percent CNL”), the President must terminate GSP duty-free treatment for that article from that BDC by no later than July 1 of the next calendar year.
Under the 1974 Act, the President may waive the 50 percent CNL with respect to an eligible article imported from a BDC if the value of total imports of that article from all countries during the calendar year did not exceed the applicable de minimis amount for that year ($18 million for 2006).
If imports of an eligible article from a BDC ceased to receive duty-free treatment due to exceeding a CNL in a prior year, the President may redesignate such an article for duty-free treatment if imports in the most recently completed calendar year did not exceed the CNLs.
A CNL waiver remains in effect until the president determines that it is no longer warranted due to changed circumstances. However, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 provides that, not later than July 1 of each year, the president should revoke any CNL waiver that has been in effect with respect to an article for five years or more if the BDC has exported to the U.S. during the preceding calendar year a quantity of the article that (a) has an appraised value in excess of a specified amount ($187.5 million in 2006) or (b) exceeds 75 percent of the appraised value of the total imports of that article into the U.S. during that calendar year.
Exclusions from GSP duty-free treatment where CNLs have been exceeded will be effective July 1, 2007, unless previously granted a waiver by the President. CNL exclusions, as well as decisions with respect to de minimis waivers and redesignations, will be based on full 2006 calendar year import statistics.
USTR has released the following lists of statistics which contain products handled by AFI members. The complete list is available at the link given below.
