NOT-BY- PROFIT PAkisTAN urges us To reNew gsP ProgrAM To BeNefiT DeveloPiNg couNTries

Islamabad news desk

PAKISTANhas joined forces with 26 other nations to urge US lawmakers to renew the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) program for developing countries.

The program, which was instituted in 1971 with the support of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, is a tariff waiver program on nearly 5,000 products from over 120 countries.

The GSP program is designed to promote economic development by eliminating duties on thousands of products when imported from one of the designated beneficiary countries and territories. The US Trade Representative's office has called it the largest and oldest US trade preference program. The program's legal authorization, however, expired on Decem-

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ber 31, 2020, leaving US firms exposed to heightened tariffs and discouraging them from doing business with developing nations.

In a letter distributed on Monday, the alliance of GSP countries urged the US Senate and the House of Representatives to provide bipartisan support for the program and expedite legislation for its renewal. Pakistan's US Ambassador Masood Khan co-signed the letter with other ambassadors.

"With the 118th Congress in place, we hope there is a window of opportunity for bipartisan legislation renewing the Generalised System of Preference," stated the letter sent to the Chair and Ranking Members of leading legislative committees of the US Congress.

Pakistan is a member of the 27nation Alliance of GSP Countries and is also on a US list of nations that benefit from tariff reliefs under the program. The program's renewal is critical to enhanced market access for developing countries in the United States, said Ambassador Khan. "The program is a conduit to ensuring robust ties with the United States bearing the hallmark of strong economic sinews and currency," he said.

The GSP program has served both beneficiary countries and the US economy and businesses, said Ambassador Khan. "Both small and large US companies benefit from it by importing products, including raw material, and maintaining comparative advantage."

Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine have impacted supply chains and resulted in food and energy shortages and consequent hyper-inflation across the globe, said Ambassador Khan. "The renewal of the program would help in spurring growth in multiple sectors of the economy and thus lessen the severity of ongoing challenges," he said.

After last year's devastating floods, Pakistan too was hoping that the United States would increase market access for its textiles and other products whose trade was directly dependent on agriculture, said Ambassador Khan. Many other climate-vulnerable countries are also facing similar challenges because of food and energy hyper-inflation, providing compelling justification for the revival of the GSP program, he said.

"Urgent reauthorization of the GSP program has become a central piece of the trade agenda of the Alliance," he said in an appeal to the US Congress.

The US remains the largest export market for Pakistani products, with a bilateral trade volume of $12 billion. Pakistan was among the top ten beneficiaries of the program, and approximately 6-8% of US imports from Pakistan were being made under the GSP arrangement.

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