All GSP eligible merchandise including textiles will benefit from the US government’s announcement of extending the benefit under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to developing countries. In a notice issued on 28 July, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that it will “again accept claims for GSP duty-free treatment for merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption and that CBP will process refunds on duties paid, without interest, on GSP-eligible merchandise that was entered during the period that the GSP programme was lapsed.” The GSP is a renewable preferential trade programme that allows the eligible products of designated beneficiary developing countries to directly enter the United States free of duty. “The GSP programme expired on July 31, 2013, but has been renewed through December 31, 2017, effective July 29, 2015, with retroactive effect between August 1, 2013 to July 28, 2015, by a provision in the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015,” the notice to importers said. Formal and informal entries that were filed electronically via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) using Special Program Indicator (SPI) Code “A” as a prefix to the tariff number will be automatically processed by CBP and no further action by the filer is required to initiate the refund process, CBP said. However, non-ABI filers, and ABI filers that did not include SPI Code “A” on the entry, must timely submit a duty refund request to CBP. CBP will continue conducting verifications to ensure that GSP benefits are available to eligible entries only. Welcoming the US government move, SC Ralhan, president Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said, “It will benefit Indian exports and will increase competitiveness of Indian goods covered under GSP in US market. India will get duty advantage in respect of 3500 tariff lines.”
