Question : Withdrawal of GSP by USA

(a) whether the United States of America has removed India from the select trade list as a beneficiary of their Generalized System of Preference (GSP) and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
(b) the details of the products and their value (product-wise) which are likely to be affected due to the said withdrawal;
(c) the manner and extent to which the said decision is likely to hit the country’s exporters;
(d) whether the Government is holding talks at the highest level to resume the said system and if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the estimated revenue loss and its likely impact on the overall economy of the country along with other measures being taken by the Government to recover the lost ground?

THE MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

a) to e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****


STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 62 FOR ANSWER ON 26th JUNE, 2019
REGARDING “WITHDRAWAL OF GSP BY USA”.

(a) Yes, sir. India exported goods valued at $ 6.3 billion (as per USTR figures) to U.S. under the GSP programme during the calendar year 2018, which was12.1% of India’s total export to U.S. in the year.
(b) The details of the products and their value (product wise) which were getting GSP benefit are available in the USITC website.
(c) The impact will vary across products, depending on the individual product level concessions constituting the average duty concession of 3.8% on India’s exports to US in 2018 availing GSP benefits, and other factors specific to each product.
(d) Trade related issues are a part of any ongoing economic relationship, and will continue to be discussed and addressed as a part of the regular bilateral trade engagement between India and the US.
(e) The total duty concessions accruing on account of GSP were$ 240 million in 2018, which was about 3.8% of India’s export to the US availing the US GSP benefits. Indian industry is competitive in their export products and we do not foresee significant impact on our foreign trade.
*****