US drops Bangladesh from GSP list
US has left Bangladesh out from its Generalized System of Preference (GSP) list.
US President Barack Obama signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act on June 29, authorizing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) through 2017, according to a notice posted by the US Customs and Border Protection.
The Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, is a preferential tariff system which provides for a formal system of exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Specifically, it’s a system of exemption from the most favored nation principle (MFN) that obliges WTO member countries to treat the imports of all other WTO member countries no worse than they treat the imports of their “most favored” trading partner.
The new GSP program of US will make trade benefits retroactive to July 31, 2013.
The United States has renewed trade preferences for 122 nations around the world, but Bangladesh has been excluded from the list.
An inter agency review led by the United States Trade Representative had earlier concluded that while Bangladesh made progress over the last year to address fire and building safety issues in the garment sector, further progress is needed.
Obama government suspended Bangladesh from GSP in June 2013 based on Bangladesh’s failure to meet statutory eligibility requirements related to workers’ rights.
