ANCA welcomes Trump`s decision to end Turkey`s preferential trade  regime

ArmInfo. The Armenian National  Committee of America (ANCA) and the Greek-American Council of Leaders  (HALC) welcomed the position of President Trump, who today called for  an end to the preferential trade regime for Turkey. This position is  a political priority long put forward by HALC and ANCA.In a joint  statement, the two organizations say that they are "pleased that the  administration has accepted a long-standing call to protect American  taxpayers and consumers from the need to forcibly subsidize Turkish  exports to US markets," said HALC executive director Andy Zemenides  and ANCA executive director Aram Ampharyan.

"Although, for reasons that remain unclear, the president's  determination is expressed in manifestly contradictory praise for  Turkey's progress, the overall effect of these actions is obvious to  everyone: a serious failure for Ankara, urgently needed support for  American manufacturers, and a big step towards more reasonable and  serious approach to Erdogan's growing anti-American regime>.

In letters sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker  of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Trump argued that  Turkey's withdrawal from the Generalized System of Preferences  program is due to the fact that Turkey is economically developed and  should not take advantage of access to the United States market. "The  increase in gross national income per capita, the reduction of  poverty and the diversification of exports by trading partners and by  sectors - all this indicates an increase in the level of economic  development in Turkey," the letters said.However, the US trade  representative announced in August 2018 that he was considering  Turkey's right to participate in the program after Ankara introduced  response tariffs for US goods in response to US steel and aluminum  tariffs.The United States identified Turkey as the beneficiary  country of the General System of Preferences in 1975. According to  USTR sources, 17.7% of total US imports from Turkey in 2017, totaling  $ 1.66 billion, came from this program.  Among the leading categories  of GSP imports were jewelry and precious metals, vehicles and auto  parts, and stone products.

By law, the exclusion of Turkey from the program will occur no  earlier than 60 days after notification of the Congress and the  Government of Turkey, and will be adopted by a Presidential  Decree.According to the GSP, some products may be brought into the  United States duty free if the beneficiary countries meet the  selection criteria established by Congress. These criteria include,  among other things, respecting arbitral awards in favor of US  citizens or corporations, fighting child labor, respecting  internationally recognized workers' rights, ensuring adequate and  effective protection of intellectual property, and providing the  United States with fair and reasonable market access. Countries may  also be excluded from the program depending on factors related to  economic development.