U.S. completes annual GSP review

U.S. completes annual GSP review    The Obama administration announced the completion of its annual review of the Generalized System of Preferences program on Tuesday, concluding that in 2008 the duty-free program facilitated $31.7 billion in imports on nearly 5,000 types of products from 131 developing countries.
   'The GSP program serves as an effective tool for developing countries as they increase their economic participation in the global trading system,' said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, in a statement. 'It further helps to expand choices and lower costs for U.S. consumers and industry.'
   Exports to the United States under GSP constituted a significant share of total exports from a number of beneficiary countries, including Paraguay, Lebanon, Tunisia, Fiji and Armenia.
   Beneficiary countries and products can be removed from GSP if they exceed statutory import ceilings. The administration determined that 12 products from six beneficiary countries, such as polyethylene terephthalate from Indonesia, are now sufficiently competitive to no longer need GSP treatment.
   As part of its review, the administration will continue GSP eligibility for 112 products from 16 beneficiary countries by granting waivers of the statutory annual trade thresholds. Products for which GSP eligibility was continued include fancy leather from Argentina, copper wire from Turkey, ferrosilicon from Kazakhstan, and exports made by rural women entrepreneurs that help to increase their incomes, such as garden brooms made from coir natural fiber in Sri Lanka.
   The administration also granted Egypt's request to add frozen uncooked potatoes and frozen spinach to the list of products from all beneficiary countries. These products will become eligible for duty-free export into the United States starting July 1.
   The GSP review also involved an analysis of petitions to withdraw or limit a country's GSP benefits for not meeting GSP eligibility criteria. These criteria include the extent to which a country provides adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights and whether a country is taking steps to afford internationally recognized rights to workers in that country. Several beneficiaries remain under 'active scrutiny' because of these concerns, including Lebanon, Russia and Uzbekistan for intellectual property rights violations, and Bangladesh, Niger, the Philippines and Uzbekistan regarding worker rights, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
   The results of the annual GSP review are available online.