US says could end trade benefits for India, Brazil

WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) The United States is reviewing whether to withdraw longtime trade benefits for India, Brazil and 11 other advanced developing countries, U.S. trade officials said on Monday.

The decision follows the recent collapse of world trade talks, which many members of Congress blame on the reluctance of large developing countries like India and Brazil to open their markets to more foreign goods.

The United States imported .7 billion worth of goods from 133 developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences program in 2005.

The 32-year-old trade program, which must be renewed periodically, waives import duties on thousands of products from the developing countries.

The Bush administration will review whether to ''limit, suspend or withdraw'' the eligibility of 13 countries that either shipped more than 0 million worth of goods to the United States under the program in 2005 or accounted for more than 0.25 percent world goods exports, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said.

The targeted countries include Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela, USTR said.

Leading members of Congress have said they oppose renewing the GSP program, especially for advanced developing countries like India and Brazil, when it expires Dec. 31.

In a statement announcing the review of GSP benefits, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said it was important that the program continue for many developing countries, even if benefits for others are reduced or withdrawn.

''Both the United States and participating countries benefit from expanded trade under GSP, and it is important that this program be reauthorized when it expires at the end of the year,'' Schwab said.

''One of the concerns that Congress has raised is that GSP benefits go largely to a few countries, while many developing countries are not trading much under the program. We want to ensure that we are operating the program as Congress intended,'' Schwab said.

REUTERS SBA RN2116