WASHINGTON , D.C. — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) strongly condemns any last-minute attempt by Congress to reauthorize the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) or the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). These unilateral tariff cut giveaways have hollowed out American industry, destroyed jobs, and undermined U.S. economic security. Pushing them through in the final days of the current Congress would be a slap in the face to the incoming administration and its America First trade agenda.
Last year, America became a net-food importer nation. We can no longer even feed ourselves. AGOA and GSP overwhelmingly benefit highly capitalized and concentrated multinational enterprises, like global food processing companies, while doing nothing to promote broader prosperity in the so-called “beneficiary nations”.
Global food processing giants should not be encouraged to ditch American farmers and ranchers in favor of indentured servants and environmental destruction. This is not what Americans voted for. These deals are not Making America Healthy Again.
“Congress has no business resurrecting decade-long unilateral tariff cuts in the final hours of this session,” said Zach Mottl, Chairman of CPA. “It adds insult to injury that Congressional trade committees would hop on these generational failures, instead of taking up policies like repeal of China’s Most Favored Nation status, something their own Commission has recommended for two years now.”
Less there be any doubt about the crony nature of these programs, one need only look to the fact that importer groups successfully lobbied to include billions of dollars in retroactive refunds. Surely, Congress can think of American tax payers more deserving of a refund than multinational importers.
“Reviving these outrageous tariff waiver programs is the opposite of putting America first,” Mottl added. “The American people have made it clear they want strong trade policies that restore American self-reliance. Passing GSP or AGOA now would be a direct affront to the incoming administration’s mission to rebuild American industry and secure our nation’s future.”
CPA calls on Congress to abandon these counterproductive trade schemes and work with the incoming administration to pursue pro-growth policies that deliver real economic security, create good-paying jobs, and restore America’s industrial power.
# # #
