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The Asian NIEs have recently been showing some readiness to accept wider GATT responsibilities. The main areas of interest for them are limitations on NTBs, improved transparency of the escape clause (Art. XIX), the race for subsidies in steel and textiles, market access and the new areas of TRIMS and TRIPS. In political terms, their main concern is to avoid a special NIC classification within GATT, which would separate them from the wider group of developing countries.
5.2.General System of Preferences
Propose NIE's graduation out of the EEC-GSP scheme on the ba-
sis of "self-election", in exchange for a general lowering of
market access barriers.
The principle of graduation is already practiced and re- cognized in the monetary sector (credit criteria of IMF, ADB) and in development policy (per capita income benchmark, used by the World Bank). So far, the GSP privileges are heavily biased in favor of the NICs (primarily Asian NIEs and some other middle-income developing countries). As the granting of preferences was offered on the basis of self-selection, graduation should be based on the same principle. Thus, the industrial countries' approach, shoone of negotiation.
should change from one of
demand or unilateral coercion
5.3.OECD
Support the informal dialogue with Asian NIEs and their broadened participation in OECD working groups.
In May 1988, the OECD Ministerial Council decided the for- mation of a working group to review the possibilities of broader cooperation with the NIES within OECD. A first infor- mal meeting took place in January 1989. The major goal is the transfer of bilateral economic issues into the multilateral framework of OECD working groups.
8)
The U.S. has withdrawn GSP preferences for the four Asian NIEs beginning January 2, 1989. Economically, the impact of this decision remains rather limited. The trade volume affected is about $8-10 Bn., nearly 60% of all U.S. GSP-favored imports. The average tariff on those items will be about 5%. This uni- lateral U.S. measure, however, stirred some political pro-. tests, as the U.S. has used the GSP preferences as an incen- tive for improvements in the patent and copyright laws in the NIES. After improving these laws, the NIEs now feel disappoin- ted about the withdrawal of the incentive.