What is GSP in the United States of America?

The United States of America’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is the oldest and largest trade preference program established under the Trade Act of 1974 by the US government. The GSP promotes economic development by eliminating certain import duties on thousands of products imported from any of the beneficiary countries under the US’s Generalized system of preferences. At present, a total of 119 countries are designated beneficiaries of the
US’s GSP program. In March 2019, the United States terminated the GSP designation of India for failing to provide assurance to the U.S government that India will provide reasonable and equitable access to its market for the US industries and companies belonging to numerous sectors.
Why in news?
The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goel in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Friday, 13th December 2019 informed about the impact of the withdrawal of GSP by the U.S government on bilateral trade and overall exports of India. The Minister informed that India exported USD 6.3 billion worth of goods to the U.S in the year 2018 which was 12.1% of the total exports of India to the U.S. As India was a U.S GSP beneficiary in 2018, concessions on average import duty were about USD 240 million in 2018, which was 3.8 percent of India’s export to the U.S.


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