US extends GSP privileges for Thailand by another 4 years 5 months

 

BANGKOK, 2 July 2015 (NNT) – The United States has extended its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) privileges for Thailand by another four years and five months, with two years retroactive effect.

General Chatchai Sarikulya, the minister of commerce, disclosed on Wednesday that the GSP extension had been approved by the president of the United States on June 29. As a result, Thai exporters can claim two years’ worth of taxes, or about 6.2 billion baht, they have paid since the GSP privileges expired on July 31, 2013. The current GSP privileges cover 3,400 articles of export items, and will last until December 31, 2017.

According to Gen. Chatchai, Thailand is the second-most prolific utilizer of the US’s GSP system after India, accounting for 18.67% of the total value of the GSP utilization of the US.

Meanwhile, the commerce minister said the Greece debt problem might affect the market in the European Union. He noted, however, that several markets, such as Germany, were still performing well and remained a good prospect for Thai products.

Source: National News Bureau of Thailand, http://thainews.prd.go.th/CenterWeb/NewsEN/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5807020010001