US intends to end preferential trade treatment for Turkey

The United States intends to end Turkey’s preferential trade treatment under a program that allowed some exports to enter the United States duty-free, the US Trade Representative’s Office said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Turkey is no longer eligible to participate in the Generalized System of Preferences program because it “is sufficiently economically developed,” USTR said in a news release.

USTR said in August it was reviewing Turkey’s eligibility in the program after Ankara imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to American steel and aluminium tariffs.

Turkey is one of 120 countries that participate in the GSP, the oldest and largest US trade preference program. It aims to promote economic development in beneficiary countries and territories by eliminating duties on thousands of products.

The United States imported $1.66 billion in 2017 from Turkey under the GSP program, representing 17.7 percent of total US imports from Turkey, according to USTR’s website.

The leading GSP import categories were vehicles and vehicle parts, jewellery and precious metals, and stone articles, the website said.

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