AMN / NEW DELHI
Commerce Secretary of India Anup Wadhawan today said, US’ decision to withdraw India’s name from Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) list will not have any significant impact on country’s 5.6 billion dollar exports to the country.
Briefing media here, the Secretary said, the economic value of GSP benefits are very moderate. He added that India’s relations remain strong with the US and discussions will go on.
Mr Wadhawan said, India has very deep rooted ties with the US and all the issues in the trade domain are on the table for discussions. He stressed that India will not compromise on affordability of medical devices. He said, India’s effort was to balance the affordable prices of the medical devices without compromising on public welfare.
The Commerce Secretary’s response came after US President Donald Trump said, he intends to end the preferential trade status granted to India and Turkey. He asserted that New Delhi has failed to assure America of equitable and reasonable access to its markets.
US has decided to terminate GSP in 60 days. As many as 1,900 Indian products from sectors such as chemicals and engineering get duty free access to the US market under the GSP which was introduced in 1976.