Walk into an RV, and you’ll see an assemblage of products imported from various states, regions, and countries.
How those items get there may change as the industry heads into 2018 as the RV Industry Association and Indiana Repbulican Rep. Jackie Walorski introduce some changes with a new bill.
“Northern Indiana is known as the RV Capital of the World, so Hoosiers know just how vital manufacturing is to our nation’s economy,” said Walorski. “We should never let outdated laws get in the way of building American-made products. This commonsense bill will make small but important fixes that allow our manufacturers to save time and money they can spend investing, growing, and hiring.”
As it stands, the current Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) law, which helps poor communities develop economically through trade, is set to expire by year’s end, and the next reauthorization for it means opportunity for fixes.
The issue is that the current law looks to see if a product was available in 1995 than if it is now. Based on that assessment, it is determined whether a product is GSP-eligible, which lowers or overall eliminates import duties from developing nations. To be eligible, the product under the GSP program can’t exceed a certain dollar or percentage threshold.
So, how does this affect the industry?
Lauan (pronounced loo-ahn) is a type of plywood from Indonesia that has become prevalent in the RV industry, said Michael Ochs, director of government affairs for RVIA. According to experts, no domestic alternative to lauan – with its characteristic light weight and water resistance – exists. Ochs said some non-wood alternatives are available, but come with a higher cost opposed to lauan.
The popular plywood used to manufacture RVs no longer meets the thresholds for the GSP program, and requires the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to grant a waiver.
In the past weeks, the RVIA has worked with Walorski to introduce a new bill called the Competitive Needs Limitation Modernization Act, which would help with the industry’s lauan issue, making it easier to obtain.
This update to the Competitive Needs Limitation (CNL) waiver process would change the way the USTR evaluates some products, such as lauan.
“That’s where the first fix that this bill would do,” said Jack Morrissey, communications director for Rep. Walorski. “Rather than use that date of 1995, it would look back at the previous three years, and see whether there is a domestic product that is similar to a product where the waiver is being considered.”
The second fix would also fix the due date for the USTR to make a CNL determination.
To apply for the CNL waiver, the date of when the application is needed is out of sync with when the full year trade data is available.
“This bill would align those two rather than having to project what those two or three months of trade data would be,” said Morrissey.
H.R. 4068 was introduced by Walorski on Oct. 12, and has cosponsors from Florida and Nevada. The Competitive Needs Limitation Modernization Act was also introduced to the Senate on Oct. 31. The bill will hopefully be voted on before the end of the year.