At the end of October, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced that Georgia has met all the standards necessary to maintain preferential trade status (TPS) with the United States. USTR specifically cited Georgia’s improvement in the protection of worker rights.
This all adds up to a significant win for Georgia. Georgian government leaders have made free markets and foreign investment a top priority to continue to position Georgia as a gateway hub linking East and West providing access to markets representing hundreds of millions of consumers.
Opening up access to the US market will bring more jobs and more prosperity to all Georgians. The growing economic relationship between the US and Georgia was underscored by the recent visit to Georgia by Secretary Pompeo.
During his visit to Georgia, Secretary of State Pompeo underscored to Prime Minister Gakharia that strong bilateral economic cooperation between the two nations is an essential component of national and geo-political security of Georgia. Said Pompeo, “We’ll get our economies back up and going again. This is central for the prosperity of our – of your country and of the region and of the world.
As it relates to Georgia, the official USTR public statement said that the GSP is the largest and oldest U.S. trade preference program, designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry into the United States for 3,500 products from the 119 designated beneficiary countries and territories. To remain eligible for these advantages, beneficiary countries must comply with 15 statutory eligibility criteria, including taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights, providing adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, and assuring equitable and reasonable access to its markets.