Congress urged to make sleeping bags a textile product in GSP
04 Aug '11
2 min read
Manufacturers in the US have urged the Congress to include sleeping bags in the category of textile products in the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) when it is renewed, in order to be able to compete in the international market.
The GSP trade laws framed in 1974 allowed over 130 developing countries duty-free access for about 4,800 products to the US market. However, textiles were not included in the GSP to protect domestic textile industries.
Then in 1992, the rules were amended designating sleeping bags as non-textile product, in spite of the fact that the materials used in making them like fabric, silk and zippers, were covered by the GSP.
This did not affect the American sleeping bag manufacturers until 2009, when they started losing orders to Bangladeshi sleeping bag producers. The Bangladeshi companies are at an advantage as they do not have to pay duties on imported inputs which fall under GSP, while the US companies have to pay duties on the same.
The GSP trade laws have not been renewed yet, though they expired at the beginning of 2011. Hence, several sleeping bag manufacturers have urged the Congress to declare sleeping bags as a textile product when the GSP is renewed.