Liberia to receive GSP benefits
The Bush administration has reinstated duty-free trade benefits for Liberia under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
Liberia’s GSP privileges were suspended by the United States in 1990 because of worker rights concerns.
Liberia’s GSP status will become effective in two stages. In 15 days of the effective date Feb. 22, Liberian shippers will be able to export a number of products duty free to the United States. After 60 days of congressional review, Liberia will be become a least developed beneficiary developing country, which will provide Liberian companies the ability to export additional products to the United States duty free.
The U.S. government’s GSP program includes 137 developing countries exporting about 3,450 different products duty free to the United States. In the first 11 months of 2005, $25 billion worth of exports entered the United States under GSP.