Top Senate Finance Republican Says Renewing GSP/MTB High Priorities

The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said he was disappointed that renewing the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill didn't make it into year-end legislation in December. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a hallway interview at the Capitol that "for me, it's a very, very high priority. We really need to get it done."

Former House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., had his own version of MTB and GSP renewals that diverged from the Senate version Crapo pushed forward during the previous Congress. The Senate passed MTB and GSP renewals, but their version was never accepted by the House. Ways and Means Republicans, however, endorsed Crapo's language in 2021 (see 2106230027).

Crapo said he hopes it will be easier to move GSP and MTB now that the House of Representatives has a Republican majority. "I have not had conversations with their leadership yet, but I would think they would be very supportive," he said, and noted the history of the Republicans endorsing the Senate's MTB and GSP renewals.