Now, US to review GSP eligibility of India, Indonesia

The reviews are based on the Trump Administration’s new GSP country eligibility assessment process, outlined in October 2017, as well as GSP country eligibility petitions, USTR said in a statement.

For India, the GSP country eligibility review is based on concerns related to its compliance with the GSP market access criterion.  For Indonesia, the review is based on concerns related to its compliance with the GSP market access criterion and the GSP services and investment criterion.  Kazakhstan’s eligibility review is based on concerns related to its compliance with the GSP worker rights criterion.

“GSP provides an important tool to help enforce the Trump Administration’s key principles of free and fair trade across the globe. The President is committed to ensuring that those countries who receive GSP benefits uphold their end of the bargain by continuing to meet the eligibility criteria outlined by Congress,” said Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish. “We hope that India, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan will work with us to address the concerns that led to these new reviews.”

USTR is launching a self-initiated GSP eligibility review of India based on concerns related to its compliance with the GSP market access criterion and is also accepting two petitions related to the same criterion.  The petitions filed by the US dairy industry and the US medical device industry requested a review of India’s GSP benefits, given Indian trade barriers affecting US exports in those sectors.

“India has implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on US commerce. The acceptance of these petitions and the GSP self-initiated review will result in one overall review of India’s compliance with the GSP market access criterion,” the statement said. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India