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U.S likely to end trade benefits for India
By agencies
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Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 19:30 IST
WASHINGTON: Following the recent collapse of world talks, the U.S is expected to withdraw longtime trade benefits for India, Brazil and 11 other advanced developing countries, trade officials informed on Monday.
Many Congress members blame this on the reluctance of large developing countries like India and Brazil to open their markets to more foreign goods.
"One of the concerns that Congress has raised is that GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) benefits go largely to a few countries, while many developing countries are not trading much under the program," Susan Schwab, U.S Trade Representative said in a statement.
The Bush administration is likely to assess whether to 'limit, suspend or withdraw' the eligibility of 13 countries that shipped more than $100 million worth goods to the U.S under the program in 2005 or accounted for more than 0.25 percent world goods exports, Schwab said.
Meanwhile Indian Commerce Industry Minister, Kamal Nath declined to comment on the possible loss.
Commenting on the issue, Viji Rangaswamy, a trade associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that 'very small, family-based operations' that export jewelry to the U.S would be affected by this expulsion.
The countries that would be affected are Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, India, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela, officials said.