The Trade Department said Monday the renewal of import duty privileges under the Generalized System of Preference by the United States will secure close to $1 billion in Philippine export earnings.
“The US is an important ally of the Philippines and we welcome the move of the US Congress to renew the GSP privileges,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said in a statement. US President Barack Obama signed the GSP renewal on Oct. 21.
The GSP is a program of the US government designed to promote economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential duty-free entry to 4,800 products from 129 countries. Some of the countries that benefit from the GSP include Thailand, India, Brazil, Africa, Turkey and the Philippines.
Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said “the renewed program provides retroactive claim for preferential duty-free access starting Jan. 1, 2011.”
“Our exporters will be refunded for the difference in tariffs paid after the GSP expired last December 2010. US Customs is now preparing guidelines for the refund process,” he said.
The GSP becomes effective Nov. 5 and will reamain until July 31, 2013, the department said.
The Philippines in 2010 ranked seventh among US’ top GSP beneficiary countries, accounting for 4.9 percent of total GSP imports to the US, data from Bureau of International Trade Relations showed.
The department said Philippine GSP utilization last year was at 72 percent.
Philippine products eligible for GSP are cane sugar, bananas, parts of air-conditioning machines, wooden tableware and kitchenware, silver articles of jewelry, some types of women’s or girl’s dresses, parts of machinery and other food products such as dried mangoes, guavas, and mangosteen.
The US ranked second to Japan as the Philippines’ top export market in 2010. Trade volume between the Philippines and the US amounted to $13.86 billion.
The Philippines was the US’ 36th supplier of imports and 30th largest export market in the same period.
The GSP privilege expired on Dec. 31, 2010, but beneficiary countries are expected to recover their preferential tariff retroactively.
The US government in the past reimbursed the duties were paid after the GSP was restored. –Julito G. Rada, Manila Standard Today
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