Industry News

Russia Removed from GSP

October 7, 2014


    On October 3, 2014, President Obama removed Russia from the list of countries potentially eligible for specialized treatment under Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).  GSP gives preferential treatment to certain countries to bolster their economic development by allowing them to export their products to the United States duty free.  President Obama stated, “I have determined that Russia is sufficiently advanced in economic development and improved in trade competitiveness that it is appropriate to terminate the designation of Russia as a beneficiary developing country.”

    First Deputy of the Chairperson of the Russian State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Mikhail Yemelyanov stated that he believes this is more of a political move than an economic one.  On October 4, 2014, he commented, “The decision to deprive us [Russia] of benefits, preferences is mostly a symbolic measure. The harm that comes from it is that the United States shows it is not planning to decrease the level of confrontation with Russia.”  Yemelyanov also stated that he believes this will not harm the Russian economy because “the volume of the trade with the United States is not large, while the products to which the preferences applied were even smaller in number.”

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