In a statement on the evening of Monday (March 4), the US Trade Representative stated that Turkey and India are no longer eligible to become ”beneficiary developing countries”. Under the original Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), many products in low- and middle-income countries and emerging economies can enter the US market duty-free. The US trade representative said in a statement that India failed to guarantee “fair and reasonable” market access to the United States, while Turkey is currently “economically developed enough.” This change will not take effect until at least 60 days have been notified to the US Congress and the Indian and Turkish governments.العربيةSinoeast
In the past year, the trade relationship between the United States and India has become increasingly tense. A series of regulatory policies introduced by India may damage the prospects of US companies in the Indian market. At the end of February, the Indian government proposed to restrict the cross-border movement of data generated by Indian users through e-commerce platforms, social media and search engines, and foreign e-commerce companies must have registered commercial entities in India to continue to sell in India. In April 2018, the United States launched a review of India’s MFN privilege, complaining that India did not fully open its market, and there was no reason to enter the US market without tax. ”A series of trade barriers imposed by India have had a serious negative impact on US business,” the US trade representative said earlier. ”Sinoeast日本語 Despite the intensive contacts, India failed to take the necessary steps to meet the GSP standards.”
Last weekend, Trump gave a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC): “India is a country with high tariffs. They charge us a high fee. When we export a motorcycle to India. The tariff is 100%, they charge 100%. When India sent us a motorcycle, we did not charge them a penny.” The American business community’s complaints against India are also growing. According to the “Financial Times”, last year, in order to promote the development of local manufacturing, India increased the import tariffs on a series of commodities, and the US giants such as Apple and Ford were hit. India’s price controls on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, intellectual property policies, and volatility in import restrictions on agricultural products have also increased trade frictions.
The US Congressional Research Service report shows that in 2017, SinoeastGalego India’s tax-free exports to the United States under the Pratt & Whitney system were about $5.7 billion, the biggest beneficiary of the GSP in the year. Turkey is the fifth largest beneficiary, covering a commodity value of $1.7 billion. Milan Vaishnav, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said on Twitter that the decision “is not good news for US-Indian economic relations.” “Many people think this is a negotiation strategy. I think The government is giving up the entire forest for several trees.” According to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce, India’s merchandise exports to the United States reached US$48 billion in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 13%. India’s trade surplus with the United States reached 21 billion U.S. dollars, and India is still on the US currency manipulation country watch list.