Source: Comments Submitted to the US Trade Representative

In the wake of the collapse of the current WTO negotiations, the United States announced it would review whether to continue to provide trade preferences for a number of developing countries, including India, Brazil, and South Africa.  The ostensible reason for the review is to ensure that advanced developing countries do not monopolize the market access opportunities under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences.  Carnegie Associate Viji Rangaswami co-authored comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative arguing that the real reason more countries do not benefit from GSP is that the program excludes the very products most developing countries can competitively produce, and that revocation of eligibility for the targeted countries primarily benefits developed countries and non-GSP countries at the expense of countries with large poor populations.