2008 Press Releases

July 2, 2008

Trinidad and Tobago GSP Graduation

In a June 30 proclamation announcing worldwide changes in eligibility for the United States' global and regional trade preference programs, the President of the United States announced that Trinidad and Tobago is graduating from the Generalized System of Preferences.   

Trinidad and Tobago is graduating from GSP because, as of 2007, the World Bank classifies Trinidad and Tobago as a "high income" country.  This graduation is required under U.S. law and will have effect starting January 1, 2010.

The United States anticipates no loss of duty-free treatment for Trinidad and Tobago's current exports due to this change because the goods that Trinidad and Tobago currently exports to the U.S. under GSP are also eligible for duty-free treatment under the Caribbean Basin Initiative.

In 2007, Trinidad and Tobago exported US$8.8 billion in goods to the United States.  Of this amount, only US$5.1 million, or less than one-tenth of one percent, entered the United States under the GSP program.

Trinidad and Tobago's exports of petroleum products enter the U.S. duty free either because the normal U.S. tariff rate – or NTR rate – is zero, or because they are covered by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), which was recently extended by two years, to 2010.  Trinidad and Tobago’s graduation from the GSP program has no effect on its eligibility for CBTPA or NTR tariff rates.

The full text of the President's proclamation is available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080630-12.html