Marcos urges US Congress to reauthorize GSP

President Marcos has urged the United States Congress to fast-track the reauthorization of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, which granted duty-free privilege to more than 3,500 exports from the Philippines.

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The oldest and largest American trade preference program, GSP was established through the Trade Act of 1974 to promote economic development in beneficiary countries by eliminating duties on thousands of their products entering the US. It has benefited a total of 119 countries, including the Philippines.

In remarks delivered during the Philippine-US Business Forum last Saturday here, Marcos said the future with the US would be sustained not just through the country’s “ironclad” security and defense alliance, but also through closer economic integration.

“For this reason, we appeal to the US Congress to fast-track the reauthorization of the US GSP program which has benefitted beneficiary countries such as the Philippines,” the President said. “On the other hand, the Philippines is also a major market for US products, and in 2021, based on data from the US Department of Agriculture, the Philippines is the 8th largest market for US agricultural exports and the top market in Southeast Asia.”