International Trade News Summary

GSP Extended
On December 28, 2009, the President signed H.R. 4284 , which extends duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program and Andean Trade Preference (ATPA) Program for one year through December 31, 2010. In addition, several countries will be added and removed from the Generalized System of Preferences.

• Maldives has been re-designated as a beneficiary country under GSP.
• Trinidad and Tobago’s designation as a beneficiary country under GSP will terminate January 1, 2010.
• Cape Verde will be removed from the list of least-developed beneficiary countries under GSP effective Jan. 1, 2010.
• Croatia and Equatorial Guinea will lose their designation as beneficiary developing countries under effective Jan. 1, 2011.


First Sale Rule Not Heavily Used
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) reports that approximately 2.4% of U.S. imports were valued using the "first sale rule" to determine transaction value of the goods. Because of CBP’s proposal to change the way import calculations are made to determine transaction value from the first sale to the last sale, the USITC was charged with conducting a review of the use of the first sale methodology. Although some of the most frequent users include textile, apparel, and footwear importers, some importers used "first sale" when no duties would be paid.

Use of the "First Sale Rule" for Customs Valuation of U.S. Import is available for review on the ITC’s web site. The ITC conducts investigations and independent analyses on specific issues, but makes no recommendations concerning policy.


CPSC – Give and Take
While some children’s products were temporarily postponed from the independent testing requirements and companies were given a little flexibility to meet the new lead requirements, the CPSC also fined a company $1.25 Million for violating the lead paint ban. Click HERE to read more about the requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.