Trump directs US to end preferential trade status for India, Turkey

United States President Donald Trump has decided to scrap preferential treatment programs for India and Turkey.

The US “intends to terminate India’s and Turkey’s designations as beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria,” the US Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) said in statement on Monday.

The GSP program allows “certain products” to enter the US without facing any tariffs, given that countries meet eligibility criteria such as “providing the US with equitable and reasonable market access.”

Established in 1974 and having covered 120 countries, the GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference program.

The Monday statement claimed India had failed to provide guarantees that it would allow the amount of market access required for by the program. The USTR also claimed that the country had "implemented a wide array of trade barriers that create serious negative effects on US commerce.”

India is known to be the world’s main GSP program beneficiary. Ending the program for the country may be the strongest punitive action taken against Delhi during Trump's presidency.

Regarding Turkey, the statement claimed that the country had “graduated” from the program, describing that Ankara had become “sufficiently economically developed” and that it no longer qualified for the treatment.

Back in August, the USTR said that it was reviewing Turkey’s eligibility for the program due to the country's imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to American steel and aluminum tariffs.

The new policy will be enacted by a presidential proclamation and will take effect after at least 60 days following the notification of the US Congress and the Turkish and Indian governments.