An underlying principle of the GSP program is that the creation of trade opportunities for developing countries is an effective way of encouraging broad-based economic development and a key means of sustaining momentum for their economic reform and liberalization.
The President’s 2010 Trade Policy Agenda
The U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program provides duty-free, preferential access to the U.S. market for 4,881 products, valued at over USD 20 billion in 2009, from 131 beneficiary developing countries (BDCs). This preference program is vital to many developing country export industries and to many U.S. importing and consuming industries. Despite this success, reform is needed. Absent a Presidential waiver, certain limits on eligibility for GSP preferences undermine the value of the program. The limits must be revised and the administration of the program must become more transparent and predictable. It is timely for Congress to make these changes to the law as it considers overall GSP reform and reauthorization of the program.
Global Trade and Customs Journal