New Delhi, Jun 6:
Days after the US announced its decision to end preferential trade status for India, the External Affairs Ministry Thursday said efforts are on to resolve the trade issues between the two countries. “There has been discussions within the government as well as with the US to resolve the issue,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing. “These kind of issues come up and they are resolved mutually as well,” he added. Last week, President Donald Trump terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary from June 5, ending the country’s USD 5.6 billion trade concessions under the key GSP programme. The Generalized System of Preference (GSP) is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries. In its reaction, the Commerce Ministry said that in any relationship, particularly in the area of economic ties, there are issues which get resolved mutually. India was the largest beneficiary of the GSP programme in 2017 with USD 5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status, according to a Congressional Research Service report published in January.
