Obama Administration Adds Fiber Projects to Duty-Free List as Part of GSP Review
President Barack Obama said seven cotton fiber products should be added to the list of those eligible for duty-free treatment under the program when imported from least developed country beneficiaries, in the Administration’s 2011 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences program. Adding the products implements one element of the LDC trade initiatives that the Office of U.S. Trade Representative announced at the December 2011 World Trade Organization Ministerial, said USTR Ron Kirk.
The President also:
- redesignated one product as eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program
- granted waivers of competitive need limitations for over 100 products from 12 countries, including both petitioned and de minimis waivers
- determined that eleven products from six countries should no longer be eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP program because the relevant country is sufficiently competitive and exceeded CNLs for the product. The changes to GSP eligibility for these products took effect July 1.
The Administration also considered petitions to withdraw or suspend certain countries’ eligibility for GSP benefits based on statutory criteria, including whether a country is taking steps to afford internationally recognized standards for worker rights and the extent to which a country adequately and effectively protects intellectual property rights. During the 2011 review, USTR accepted for formal review four new country practice petitions:
- on Fiji and Iraq regarding worker rights
- on Indonesia and Ukraine regarding intellectual property rights.
USTR also decided to close the GSP country practice review of worker rights in Sri Lanka without any change to Sri Lanka’s GSP trade benefits. Several other country practice petitions accepted in previous years remain under review: Lebanon, Russia, and Uzbekistan regarding IPR protection; and Bangladesh, Georgia, Niger, the Philippines, and Uzbekistan regarding worker rights.
The full results of the 2011 GSP Annual Review will be announced in the Federal Register.