The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has been petitioned by a number of small US businesses across sectors to continue extending tariff benefits under the generalised system of preferences (GSP) to India as withdrawing those could hit their own bottomlines, employment capabilities and welfare of employees associated with them.
In petitions to the USTR as part of the ongoing GSP Country Practice Reviews of India, Indonesia and Kazakhstan, the businesses have urged the US Government not to ignore the interests of numerous other sectors for the sake of the dairy, pork and the medical equipment industry that want the benefit to be withdrawn, according to a report in a top Indian business daily.The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has been petitioned by a number of small US businesses across sectors to continue extending tariff benefits under the generalised system of preferences (GSP) to India as withdrawing those could hit their own bottomlines, employment capabilities and welfare of employees associated with them.#
As imports are made with long-standing suppliers, in case the GSP status is revoked, identifying new suppliers with the same quality and price point would be extremely time-consuming, the businesses feel.
The GSP allows market access at nil or low duties for about 3,500 Indian products, including chemicals and textiles.
The United States, however, did not renew the scheme for India in April as the USTR wanted to hold an eligibility review. The complainants, primarily from the dairy and medical devices industry, are not happy with certain restrictions in the Indian market. (DS)
ALCHEMPro News Desk – India
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