WASHINGTON, March 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At President Donald Trump’s
direction, the United States intends to scrap the preferential trade status
granted to India and Turkey, officials said Monday.
Washington “intends to terminate India’s and Turkey’s designations as
beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP) program because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility
criteria,” the US Trade Representative’s Office said in a statement.
India has failed to provide assurances that it would allow required market
access, while Turkey is “sufficiently economically developed” that it no
longer qualifies, USTR added.
Under the GSP program, “certain products” can enter the US duty-free if
countries meet eligibility criteria including “providing the United States
with equitable and reasonable market access.”
India, however, “has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create
serious negative effects on United States commerce,” the statement said.
Turkey, after being designated a GSP beneficiary in 1975, has meanwhile
demonstrated a “higher level of economic development,” meaning that it can be
“graduated” from the program, according to USTR.