The European Union has announced significant changes to its Generalized System of Preferences program that will take effect on January 1, 2014 and will remain in place for 10 years. The EU notes that GSP benefits are now limited to countries most in need, reducing the number of beneficiary countries from 176 to 89.

Some countries losing GSP status have other trade agreements with the EU that offer essentially the same benefits. Others like Malaysia and Argentina have lost their status because the World Bank has listed them as high or upper middle income economies.

For more information about the upcoming changes, please contact Karen Kenney at kkenney@libertyint.com.