A group of U.S. senators are calling on the Trump administration to reform the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the largest and oldest trade preference program. The lawmakers want the reforms to level the playing field for American rice producers.
GSP provides duty-free treatment to goods from developing countries to promote economic growth in those nations. In recent years, highly subsidized rice growing competitors have taken advantage of this program to increase rice exports to the U.S. at the expense of American producers, rice proponents note.
In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer — authored by Sen, John Boozman, R-Ark., and others — the members shared their support for the USA Rice Federation's petition to remove all rice tariff lines from the list of commodities eligible for duty-free import under GSP.