We received unofficial word today that the Obama Administration will not submit before fall the trade legislation covering GSP, ATPA, the three free trade agreements and trade adjustment assistance.
Two reasons appear to drive this unfortunate change: Senate leadership has not come to agreement on how to legislatively handle trade adjustment assistance and, given the overwhelming importance of acting on the debt ceiling, great care is being taken that other issues – such as international trade – not sidetrack those discussions and difficult consensus-building.
That is not good news for the GSP countries whose U.S. imports eligible for GSP lag significantly behind the rate of all imports into the U.S. market.