Six foreign trading partners could lose duty-free access to the United
States market for some of their key exports because of a revamped trade
program signed into law Wednesday by President Bush.

Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire, India, The Philippines, Thailand and Venezuela could
lose trade benefits because of changes Congress made recently to the U.S.
Generalized System of Preferences for developing countries, the U.S. Trade
Representative's office said.

Previously, the six countries received a waiver to continue exporting
certain goods to the U.S. on a duty-free basis even when the shipments
exceeded thresholds that otherwise would have ended those benefits.

The changes to the GSP program were largely motivated by U.S. frustration
with India and Brazil during the Doha Round of trade talks. Now, the
Washington will be allowed to revoke such waivers when certain imports from
one country exceed an annual cap of about $187.5 million, or when those
imports comprise 75 percent of total U.S. imports of that product.

For example, India will lose duty-free access for gold jewelry and brass
lamps, according to the USTR's preliminary assessment. From January through
October, India shipped $1.6 billion in gold jewelry and $20 million in
brass lamps to the U.S. under the GSP program. Brazil will lose duty-free
access for brakes and brake parts, which totaled $242 million from January
through October, and for ferrozirconium, which totaled $700,000, the USTR said.

Other products affected include gold jewelry imports from Thailand, valued
at $611 million through October, wiring harnesses from The Philippines;
methanol from Venezuela, and kola nuts from Cote d'Ivoire, valued at $4
million.

The USTR in February will publish a Federal Register notice that provides
further details about the trade benefits to be revoked.