On Friday, May 31st, President Trump announced that India would lose its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status effective Wednesday, June 5th. India’s GSP status is being revoked as President Trump feels that India is not ensuring the U.S. “equitable and reasonable access to its markets.”
India’s loss of GSP status follows Turkey’s, and comes on the heels of a 2018 USTR investigation into the trade and fairness practices of several GSP-eligible governments.
Historical data on the GSP program demonstrates that American companies have saved more money utilizing the program out of India than any other country. India’s GSP status provided preferential treatment to nearly $5.6 billion worth of Indian exports; the revocation of India’s GSP status implies that U.S. companies importing from India will now pay in excess of $300 million in additional duties per year.
Further to this announcement, the U.S. will also remove its safeguard duties on solar cells and washing machines effective June 5th. These duties were implemented in 2018 due to India’s status as the premier provider of these products to the U.S.
Source: Shapiro
