Presidential Proclamation Directs Reduction of Ukraine GSP Benefits, Adds 3 Countries to Benefit Programs
President Donald Trump directed the revocation of certain Generalized System of Preferences for Ukraine, added Argentina to GSP eligibility, and added The Gambia and Swaziland to African Growth and Opportunity Act eligibility in a proclamation on Dec. 22. The suspension of certain Ukrainian GSP benefits will take effect 120 days after the proclamation’s publication in the Federal Register. Argentina’s addition to GSP eligibility will take effect Jan. 1. Former President Barack Obama terminated Argentina’s GSP benefits in 2012 (see 12032738), and The Gambia’s and Swaziland’s AGOA benefits in 2014 (see 14062706 and 1412230060).
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Ukraine’s partial GSP suspension stems from its shoddy intellectual property rights enforcement record despite “years of encouragement and assistance” by the U.S. government, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement. Trump decided to give the country 120 days before suspending benefits, because Ukraine “has a viable path to remedy the situation, including improving the current legal regime governing royalty reimbursement to right holders’ organizations,” USTR said. The announced GSP addition of Argentina follows resolution of arbitral disputes with U.S. companies, commitments by the country to improve market access for U.S. agricultural products, and improved IPR protection and enforcement, USTR said. But restoration of GSP benefits won’t apply to all eligible products, “due to certain remaining IPR issues,” the agency said.
After losing AGOA eligibility in 2015 because of human rights abuses and “deterioration of the rule of law,” The Gambia has made progress in strengthening the rule of law and improving human rights following democratic elections in December 2016, USTR said. Swaziland in November met the last of U.S.-established benchmarks ordered for the country to enjoy restoration of AGOA benefits, which Obama dropped in 2015 because of concerns related to restrictions of peaceful assembly, association and expression, USTR said.
Trump’s proclamation will also extend until Dec. 31, 2018, the U.S. provision of duty-free access for certain agricultural goods from Israel under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement. Trump is also amending the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), effective Jan. 1, 2018, to reflect duty-free coverage for HTS subheading 2843.29.01 (Silver compounds, other than silver nitrate) and subheading 3907.99.50 (Polyacetals, other polyethers and epoxide resins, in primary forms; polycarbonates, alkyd resins, polyallyl esters and other polyesters, in primary forms: Other polyesters: Other: Other), to fulfill U.S. World Trade Organization commitments. Specifically, the HTS will be modified by the insertion of the symbol “K” to indicate that the products are eligible for duty-free treatment, the proclamation says.
Further, Trump is implementing an HTS change to conform with the WTO Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, providing for duty-free imports of subheading 9030.33.34 (Oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers and other instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking electrical quantities, excluding meters of heading 9028; instruments and apparatus for measuring or detecting alpha, beta, gamma, X-ray, cosmic or other ionizing radiations; parts and accessories thereof: Other instruments and apparatus, for measuring or checking voltage, current, resistance or power: Other, without a recording device: Resistance measuring instruments). That change, which will include insertion of the symbol “C” beside the subheading to indicate duty-free coverage via the aircraft agreement, is retroactively effective to July 1, 2016.
The proclamation directs additional conforming changes to the HTS.