On April 26, 2018, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued CSMS #18-000307 GSP Goods Subject to Section 201 Measures, which provides additional Information with respect to articles of Thailand or Philippines, which are covered by Section 201 safeguard remedies (certain solar cells, solar panels, washing machines, and washing machine parts). According to the CSMS:
- Articles normally eligible for GSP duty preference that are subject to Section 201 duty and quota measures may not receive GSP duty preference, in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 2463(b)(2).
- On imports subject to Section 201 measures, importers should pay the normal trade relations (column 1) duty rates and not submit the GSP Special Program Indicator (SPI) “A”.
- Currently, imports of certain solar cells and panels from Philippines and certain solar cells, solar panels, washing machines, and washing machine parts from Thailand are the only GSP eligible goods that are subject to Section 201 measures. Accordingly, these articles may not receive GSP duty preferences.
- If Section 201 duties and GSP are on the same entry lines, then no GSP refund will be issued for imports for the lapse period since 19 USC 2463(b)(2) precludes GSP program benefits accruing to Section 201 goods.
CBP covered the treatment of GSP aluminum and steel goods subject to section 232 and AD/CVD investigations in CSMS #18-000296 (April 20, 2018) which dealt with the treatment of GSP goods after the retroactive reinstatement of the program:
- As of March 23, 2018, GSP-eligible goods that are subject to Section 232 duties may not receive GSP duty preference in accordance with 19 USC 2463(b)(2).
- On imports subject to Section 232 duties, importers should pay the normal trade relations (column 1) duty rates and not submit the GSP Special Program Indicator (SPI) “A”.
- Although Brazil and Argentina are GSP countries, they are exempt from Section 232 per the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) Chapter 99, Subchapter III, U.S. Notes 16(a) and 19(a); therefore they may claim GSP.
- For importations during the lapse, HQ will distribute spreadsheets to Field personnel for the manual processing of those entry summaries that could not be batch processed (AD/CVD, Section 232, other). These spreadsheets will cover importations with the following characteristics:
- If AD/CVD and GSP are on the same line, then no GSP refund will be issued until the AD/CVD liquidation order has been issued.
- If AD/CVD and GSP are on different entry lines, then the GSP administrative refund should be processed manually by the field.
- If Section 232 duties and GSP are on the same entry line, then no GSP refund will be issued, issued since 19 U.S.C. 2463(b)(2) precludes GSP program benefits accruing to Section 232 goods.
- If Section 232 and GSP are on different entry lines, then the GSP administrative refund should be processed manually.
