International Trade Data System (ITDS) Source: http://www.itds.treas.gov/gsp.html Last Updated: 4/23/2004 The United States of America under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), provides preferential duty-free entry to approximately 3,000 products from some 1,423 designated beneficiary countries and territories. The Program was enacted on January 1, 1976 under the Trade Act of 1974 for a ten year period. It was renewed through July 4, 1993 by the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984. The purpose of this program is to encourage the economic growth of beneficiary developing independent countries and dependent countries and territories. ELIGIBILITY Products which are grown, produced or manufactured in a beneficiary country and which meet Rules of Origin criteria are eligible for duty-free entry to the United States under the GSP. ELIGIBLE ITEMS The GSP eligibility list contains a wide range of products classifiable under more than 4,000 different subheadings in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. These items are identified either by the letter code "A" or "A*" in the "Special" column under column 1 of the tariff schedule. Merchandise classifiable under a subheading designated in this manner may qualify for duty-free entry if imported into the United States directly from any of the designated countries and territories. Merchandise from one or more of these countries, however, may be excluded from the exemption if the letter code "A" is in the "Special" column. The symbol, A*, specifies products from certain countries are not eligible for duty-free treatment. See General Notes section 4(d) of the USHTS.. The list of countries and exclusions, as well as the list of GSP-eligible articles, will change from time to time over the duration of the program. Please check the latest edition of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to obtain the most up-to-date information. CLAIMS For commercial shipments requiring a formal entry, a claim for duty-free status is made under GSP by showing on the entry summary that the country of origin is a designated beneficiary developing country and by showing the letter code "A" with the appropriate GSP-eligible subheading. Eligible merchandise will be entitled to duty-free treatment provided the the following condition are met: The merchandise must be destined to the United States without contingency for diversion at the time of exportation from the beneficiary developing country.
The cost or value of materials produced in the beneficiary developing country and/or the direct cost of processing performed there must represent at least 35 percent of the appraised value of the goods. The cost or value of materials imported into the beneficiary developing country may be included in calculating the 35 percent value-added requirement for an eligible article if the materials are first substantially transformed into new and different articles and are then used as constituent materials in the production of the eligible article. The phrase "direct costs of processing" includes costs directly incurred or reasonable allocated to the processing of the article, such as the cost of all actual labor, dies, molds, tooling, depreciation on machinery, research and development, and inspection and testing. Business overhead, administrative expenses, salaries, and profit, as well as general business expenses such as administrative salaries, casualty and liability insurance, advertising and salesmen's salaries, are not considered as direct costs of processing. SOURCES OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Customs rules and regulations on GSP are found in sections 10.171-10.178 of the Customs Regulations. Address any question you may have as to the administrative or operational aspects of the GSP to the Director, Office of Trade Operations, U.S. Customs Service, Washington, D.C. 20229. Requests for information concerning additions to, or deletions from, the list of eligible merchandise under GSP, or the list of beneficiary countries, should be directed to the Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Subcommittee, Office of U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506. The following countries, territories and associations of countries eligible for treatment as one country (pursuant to section 507(2) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2467(2)) are designated beneficiary developing countries for the purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences, provided for in Title V of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.): Albania Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belize Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Fiji Gabon Gambia, The Georgia Ghana Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary India Independent Countries Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Romania Russia Rwanda St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa
Hercegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Chad Chile Colombia Comoros Congo (Brazzaville) Congo (Kinshasa) Costa Rica Côte d'ivoire Croatia Czech Djibouti Dominica Dominican Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Indonesia Jamaica Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Lithuania Macedonia, Former Yugoslav of Madagascar Malawi Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal ia Oman Pakistan Sao Tomé and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Slovakia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Thailand Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Tuvalu Uganda Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela of Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Anguilla British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island (Australia) Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Non-Independent Countries and Territories Gibraltar Heard Island and McDonald Islands Montserrat Niue Norfolk Island Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena Tokelau Turks and Caicos Islands Virgin Islands, British Wallis and Futuna West Bank and Gaza Strip Western Sahara
Associations of Countries (treated as one country) Member Countries of the Cartagena Agreement (Andean Group) Member Countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Bolivia Colombia Ecuador Peru Venezuela Currently qualifying: Indonesia Philippines Thailand Member Countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Côte d'ivoire Senegal Member Countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Currently qualifying: Botswana Mauritius Member Countries of the Caribbean Common Market (CARICOM), except The Bahamas Antigua and Barbuda Barbados Belize Dominica Grenada Guyana Jamaica Montserrat St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago
The following beneficiary countries are designated as least-developed beneficiary developing countries pursuant to section 502(a)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended: Angola Bangladesh Bhutan Burundi Cape Verde Central African Chad Comoros Congo (Kinshasa) Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Ethiopia Gambia, The Guinea Haiti Kiribati Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mauritania Mozambique Nepal Rwanda Samoa Sao Tomé and Principe Sierra Leone Somalia Tuvalu Uganda Vanuatu of Yemen Zambia