U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) recently applauded House passage of a tariff relief bill that includes provisions she authored to reduce costs and red tape for American manufacturers, including in the RV industry.
“Northern Indiana is known as the RV Capital of the World, so Hoosiers know just how vital manufacturing is to our nation’s economy,” said Congresswoman Walorski. “We should never let minor technical issues create major hurdles for businesses building American-made products. This bipartisan bill makes common-sense fixes that will save manufacturers time and money better used to expand, innovate, and create jobs.”
The House passed H.R. 4979, which renews the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) tariff relief program for three years, by a vote of 400 to 2. The GSP program lowers costs for American businesses, workers, and consumers by reducing or eliminating duties on a range of products imported from developing countries.
Last week, Walorski joined House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) to introduce H.R. 4979, which includes provisions from Walorski’s bill, the Competitive Need Limitations Modernization Act (H.R. 4068).
The provisions would fix two technical issues in the GSP program that lead to what they said were unnecessary costs and paperwork for American manufacturers.
To be eligible under GSP, a product cannot exceed dollar and percentage thresholds, called competitive need limitations (CNLs). The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) may grant a CNL waiver under certain conditions, such as U.S. national security interests, no domestic production, or low total imports.
However, a waiver on the grounds of no domestic production can only be granted if there was no production on Jan. 1, 1995.
Walorski’s legislation would change the fixed date to a period of the previous three years. Additionally, the legislation would align the CNL waiver application deadline with the reporting of full-year trade data to ensure all relevant information is available to businesses.
