Washington, DC – Today, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), Ranking Member Sandy Levin (D-MI), Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY) introduced legislation to renew the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) through September 2015.  The current GSP program is set to expire July 31, 2013.

Chairman Camp: “GSP provides important benefits to U.S. manufacturers and consumers and supports more than 80,000 American jobs.  I’ve introduced this bipartisan legislation to demonstrate that the House is ready to move this bill as soon as the Senate also demonstrates that it has a credible path forward.  We cannot allow this bill to be bogged down by amendments, and I urge the Senate to act quickly on a clean bill.  Time is of the essence.”  

Ranking Member Levin: “The Generalized System of Preferences is a long-standing and valuable element of our trade and development policy.  Through GSP, we can help developing countries enjoy the benefits of trade while also requiring that countries meet basic eligibility criteria that help shape the terms of trade and ensure that its benefits are more broadly shared.  GSP provides benefits in the United States as well, with provisions to ensure complementarity and with most GSP imports being used as inputs for products made here.”

Trade Subcommittee Chairman Nunes: “GSP has significant benefits for the U.S. economy and our geostrategic interests.  Last year, the GSP program saved U.S. companies nearly $750 million in import duties and supported tens of thousands of American jobs.  I will continue to work with Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Levin to find a path forward in the Senate to ensure that GSP does not lapse.”

Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Rangel: “Through GSP, some of the poorest countries in the world get a shot at sharing in the benefits of international trade.  It is vital to our commitment to promote economic development, democracy worker rights, rule of law, and other fundamental values in the world.  This is a program that has received broad, bipartisan support virtually every time it has come up for renewal.  We need to move on it now.”

Background: The Senate has repeatedly used a procedure by which it passes legislation and holds it at the Senate desk. Upon House passage of identical legislation, the House bill is sent over to the Senate and is “deemed passed” without further action by the Senate.