Even after the withdrawal of concessions under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), India’s apparel exports to the US have risen five per cent compared to the same period last year when the duty benefits were available.

In July 2019 the US terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the GSP trade program after determining that it has not assured the US that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets.

The textile industry in India is subject to provisions of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, which stipulate that if a developing country member’s exports of a product have reached a share of at least 3.25 per cent of world trade of that product for two consecutive calendar years, it will be considered as export competitive in that product. As per this provision, India is obliged to phase out subsidies which are export contingent. And India intends to phase out export subsidies on such products over a period of eight years.

India’s leather exports to the US grew by about seven per cent in the last four months. The US-China trade war offers huge opportunities to Indian leather exporters to raise shipments to the United States.