WASHINGTON - Coalition for GSP Executive Director Dan Anthony released the following statement this evening after President Trump signed the proclamation ending Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility for India.

"Today’s decision will cost American businesses over $300 million in additional tariffs every year. Without GSP benefits American small businesses face a new tax that will mean job losses, canceled investments and cost increases for consumers. Only a year after the Senate and House passed a three year reauthorization of GSP by a near unanimous margin, the Trump administration has kicked out the GSP country that saves American companies more money than any other. 

"The administration made today’s decision in the face of opposition from members of Congress and hundreds of American businesses that have called for continued GSP eligibility for India. They also acted despite India’s willingness to negotiate new market access for American exports. Thus, there are no winners from today’s decision. American importers will pay more, while some American exporters will continue to face current market access barriers in India and others, including farmers, are very likely to be subject to new retaliatory tariffs.

"GSP, a program that has been reauthorized by Congress since 1974, should not become another front in the trade war. GSP’s true beneficiaries have always been the U.S. small businesses that rely on it to grow and prosper. They are the real losers today. In the weeks ahead we urge the Administration to restart negotiations and strike a deal that reinstates GSP eligibility for India. American companies and workers that rely on the GSP savings are depending on it."