|
Gold necklaces from India, an alloy from Brazil and 23 other developing country products will no longer receive US duty-free treatment, the US Trade Representative's office has said.
The decision was the result of an annual review of the Generalized System of Preferences, a programme created in 1974 that allows 132 developing countries to export nearly 5,000 products to the US without paying tariffs. The US imported $30.8 billion worth of goods under the GSP programme in 2007.
So, 25 products that accounted for about $1.4 billion of the 2007 imports will no longer receive duty-free treatment, USTR said.
Partly because of frustration with India and Brazil's role in the Doha Round of world trade talks, Congress passed tougher criteria for the GSP programme in December 2006.
Lawmakers like Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said they were annoyed India and Brazil received duty-free treatment under the programme but were refusing in the Doha Round to open their own markets to more imported goods.
“Congress created the GSP programme to serve as a bridge for developing countries as they increase their participation in the global trading system,” US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said.
According to new rules, waivers were revoked for $266 million worth of gold necklaces and related products from India, $233 million of jewellery from Turkey, $151 million of the alloy ferroniobium from Brazil and $6.6 million of peanuts from Argentina, USTR said. (Source: Reuters)
July 2, 2008
|
