(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump delivered notice Monday he plans to end key trade preferences for India and Turkey within 60 days.
Trump notified Congress in letters of his “intent to terminate” trade benefits for both countries under the generalized system of preferences. The notification starts a 60-day countdown before the president can take the action on his own authority, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said in a statement.
Their designation under the program allows duty-free entry of about 2,000 products including auto components, industrial valves, and textile materials.
India was the largest beneficiary of the program in 2017 with $5.7 billion in imports to the U.S. given duty-free status and Turkey the fifth largest with $1.7 billion in covered imports, according to a Congressional Research Service report issued in January.
The U.S. said in April it would review India’s eligibility for the generalized system of preferences program after some U.S. companies said dairy and medical devices shipments to India were being hurt by non-tariff barriers.
Trump’s said in a notification letter that India “has not assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India.”
He said in a separate letter that Turkey is no longer a“ developing country based on its level of economic development.”
(Updates with value of imports covered in fourth paragraph.)
