Effective May 17^th, the White House officially announced the end of Turkey’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status, since it “no longer meets the criteria to be considered a developing country.”

Although, in March, the USTR had announced that both Turkey and India would be terminated from GSP, India is still in the GSP program.

Additionally, they announced the addition of safeguard tariffs on solar cells and residential washers exported from Turkey, also effective 5/17.

Per our previous Shap Flash, President Trump had threatened that both India and Turkey’s GSP status would soon be revoked. Although the White House sent an initial notice to Congress and the Turkish government on March 4^th, an official Presidential proclamation must be issued 60 days after that date in order for GSP benefits to be removed. India’s GSP status is still intact at this time.

According to the notice, Section 232 tariffs on Turkish steel will also be lowered from 50% to 25% effective May 21^st. Trump credits his decision with the sharp decline in steel imported from Turkey, down 48%, and rise in domestic utilization, reportedly up 80%, since its original implementation in August 2018.

Shapiro will continue to monitor the situation and provide status updates as they become available.