US business seeks GSP renewal for India

< SATURDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2006 03:45:50 PM>

WASHINGTON: A US chamber-led coalition of nearly 180 companies and associations has urged Congress to approve a tax and trade package including renewal of a programme offering trade benefits to India.

The coalition representing a broad spectrum of the US business community made the plea to approve six "critical programmes that would expand US trade and economic competitiveness and promote a number of US foreign policy objectives" in a letter Friday to House and Senate leaders.

Specifically, it urged the lame-duck session of Congress to renew the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme describing it as "an effective trade tool bolstering domestic manufacturing, expanding consumer choice, and promoting economic growth in developing countries."

Allowing GSP to expire could lead to months of significant trade disruption. Not only will GSP beneficiary countries suffer losses of important export orders, but American companies who rely on lower-cost preference programme inputs-which often include raw materials, components and parts used in US manufacturing-will see their costs escalate and their competitiveness decline, it said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshowcnews/685566.cms

We've only seen domestic manufacturing decline because of this.

But I'll be the first to admit I'm no expert. Not in the slightest. So where am I wrong?