For the past 50 years, the United States has provided economic assistance to dozens of countries.
Central to this effort has been “trade liberalization” — the idea that the United States can help developing countries by importing more of their goods. Its proponents call this “trade, not aid.”
The GSP is a Cold War holdover. It was established in 1974 to eliminate thousands of import duties for 119 designated beneficiary nations. Proponents claimed that the GSP would lead to economic gains for participating countries. Sadly, many poor countries have failed to stabilize their political systems over the past 50 years. Corruption remains rife in developing economies — a situation easily exploited by multinational producers seeking cheap, unregulated labor. Such problems must be solved internally; duty-free exports to the U.S. can hardly fix an entrenched status quo.
For starters, countries that continue to use forced labor should be ineligible for any assistance. But an astounding 48 of the 119 GSP nations are on the Department of Labor’s list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor. Despite 50 years of help, these countries have never cleaned up their act.
The world is far different than it was in 1974, and such an approach no longer makes sense. If a GSP country extends a preferential tariff rate to another country, it must also offer the same preference to the United States.
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