U.S. extends GSP benefits to tsunami-damaged countries

U.S. extends GSP benefits to tsunami-damaged countries    The Bush administration will expand duty-free trade benefits to Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries ravaged by the December tsunami.
   These actions result from the 2004 review of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. “It is our hope that by promoting increased trade with the United States, we can help these nations recover from the tsunami and other tragedies and generate broad-based economic growth,” said U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman in a statement Thursday.
   The United States has agreed to provide GSP benefits for about $500 million in imports from Thailand and Indonesia. In addition, certain tsunami-affected countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will be allowed to count inputs from any member country toward meeting the GSP program’s rules of origin.
   The Bush administration’s action also designates Serbia and Montenegro as eligible for GSP benefits. Certain fresh and packaged dates from Iraq will receive duty-free status.
   The administration restored certain GSP benefits to Pakistan in view of its progress in addressing worker rights, as required by the GSP statute, and to India in view of its newly adopted patent protection law.
   Items which may now be imported duty-free under GSP from Pakistan are gloves, mittens, and mitts for sports use; certified hand-loomed and folklore pillow covers; and certified folklore wall hangings. Pharmaceutical, agricultural and other chemical items from India will now be eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP.
   The Bush administration extended benefits to or maintained benefits for about $660 million in imports through the addition of new products, the restoration of previously lost benefits (other than India and Pakistan), and the continuation of benefits for products that would otherwise have become ineligible for duty-free treatment. These products include hand-woven rugs, jewelry, contact lenses, electrostatic photocopying machines, certain food products, and other items.
   The administration, however, determined that more than $1 billion in imports from other selected developing countries are competitive in the U.S. market, and no longer eligible to receive GSP benefits. Importers of these products must now pay normal tariff rates.
   GSP was created by the 1974 Trade Act. Under the GSP program, more than 140 developing countries export about 5,000 different products duty free to the United States. In 2004, these exports amounted to more than $22 billion in trade.