IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1178 
Opposing any inclusion of apparel, textile, and footwear products in the 
Generalized System of Preferences. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 2, 2020 
Mr. SIRES (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Ms. BASS) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Opposing any inclusion of apparel, textile, and footwear 
products in the Generalized System of Preferences. 
Whereas the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) was 
authorized by title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) to promote economic growth in de-
veloping countries and, from January 1, 1976, has pro-
vided duty-free treatment to goods of designated bene-
ficiary countries; 
Whereas the 115th Congress most recently reauthorized the 
GSP program until December 31, 2020; 
Whereas GSP was carefully designed to exclude import-sen-
sitive industries, such as textiles and apparel, to ensure 
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•HRES 1178 IH 
that domestic producers and component suppliers would 
not be harmed; 
Whereas certain industry groups have proposed expanding 
GSP-eligible products to include textile, apparel, and 
footwear products; 
Whereas in a joint letter sent to the Committee on Ways and 
Means of the House of Representatives on November 27, 
2019, the governments of Colombia, Costa Rica, the Do-
minican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Hon-
duras warned that expanding GSP to include textile, ap-
parel, and footwear products would lead to massive lay-
offs in these sectors, which provide 2,000,000 direct jobs 
in Latin America; 
Whereas the United States trade in goods and services with 
the Western Hemisphere totaled $1,900,000,000,000 in 
2018; 
Whereas according to the Department of Commerce, United 
States exports of goods and services to the Western 
Hemisphere supported an estimated 3,800,000 jobs in 
2015; 
Whereas according to data from the Office of Textiles and 
Apparel, the Western Hemisphere trade in textile and ap-
parel products directly supports nearly 70 percent of 
United 
States 
textile 
and 
apparel 
exports 
and 
$35,000,000,000 in two-way trade; 
Whereas United States trade relations with other countries in 
the Western Hemisphere not only advance United States 
economic interests, but also advance prosperity, security, 
and economic opportunity in these countries, reducing the 
root causes of irregular migration and minimizing the 
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conditions of poverty and unemployment that can enable 
drug-trafficking and other illegal economic activity; 
Whereas United States trade agreements such as the United 
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Dominican Repub-
lic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, and the 
United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement in-
clude clear standards for labor and environmental rights 
and rules of origin; 
Whereas GSP does not include any standards for environ-
mental protection under its eligibility criteria for bene-
ficiary developing countries; 
Whereas while Haiti is also a beneficiary under GSP, its tex-
tile industry is heavily dependent on exports to the 
United States under the Caribbean Basin Trade Partner-
ship Act (CBTPA) and the Haitian Hemispheric Oppor-
tunity through Partnership Encouragement Act; 
Whereas adding textile and apparel to GSP would diminish 
the preferences Haiti receives under the CBTPA; 
Whereas China, while not GSP-eligible, would indirectly ben-
efit from a GSP expansion because it is a major supplier 
of textile and apparel component parts to numerous bene-
ficiary countries under GSP, with 36 percent of China’s 
global textile exports being shipped currently to GSP na-
tions; 
Whereas the United States has a strong interest in sup-
porting trade and investment with sub-Saharan Africa 
beyond the African Growth and Opportunity Act 
(AGOA), which is scheduled to terminate in 2025; 
Whereas AGOA has provided duty-free treatment for essen-
tially all goods from eligible sub-Saharan African coun-
tries with the goal of leveraging expanded trade and in-
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