With PPAI’s Legislative Education and Action Day 2025 only two weeks away, participants are preparing to meet with members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill to discuss pending legislation and issues relevant to the promotional products industry.

  • Making sure policymakers recognize the impact of the promo industry is perhaps the most important aim of the event.
  • LEAD 2025 participants will also be opposing the SWAG Act, which would prohibit government agencies from using federal funds on branded merchandise.


One piece of the agenda is advocating to policymakers for trade agreements such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

  • Both agreements are intended to promote economic growth in the developing world and have proven to help create more diverse supply chains for many industries, including promotional products.


AGOA is a U.S. trade program that provides duty-free treatment to goods of designated African countries. While AGOA is currently set to expire this year, a proposed bill would extend it to 2041.

Last year, Melissa Nelson, general counsel and corporate secretary for SanMar – PPAI 100’s No. 1 supplier – testified in front of the United States Senate Committee on Finance in support of AGOA. To view the video, click here (Nelson’s testimony begins at the 43-minute mark of the video).

  • According to Nelson, in order to move production away from China, sub-Saharan Africa provides a viable sourcing base, but this is dependent on the long-term renewal of AGOA.


GSP promotes trade with some of the world’s poorest countries by eliminating duties on imports from the 119 countries on the agreement’s list. The Unites States Trade Representative claims, “in addition to promoting economic opportunity in developing countries, the GSP program also supports progress by beneficiary countries in affording worker rights to their people, in enforcing intellectual property rights, and in supporting the rule of law.”

LEAD 2025

LEAD 2025 takes place April 7-8.

“LEAD offers an important opportunity each year to advocate for our industry through direct conversations with members of Congress and their staffers on Capitol Hill,” says Zoch. “This year, we are especially excited to be working with Thorn Run Partners, our eyes and ears in Washington. With their guidance, we’re hoping it will be an especially impactful event.”

As part of our “promotional products work” message to leaders on Capitol Hill, we’ll be sharing several case studies of successful real-world promo projects for federal and state agencies. These stories will help illustrate for lawmakers why promotional products work, as well as show how promo distributors and suppliers drive growth, create jobs and support local economies.

LEAD Case Studies:


Learn more about PPAI Public Affairs here.

For questions or suggestions on regulatory or government affairs issues, please contact Rachel Zoch at RachelZ@ppai.org.