Thursday, March 24 2016 10:58

ArmInfo. Aimee Larsen, a senior official from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), is in Armenia to advise Armenian government representatives and businesspeople on ways of capitalizing on Armenia's mostly tariff-free access to the U.S. market, according to the RFE/RL Armenian service.

Armenia is among 122 countries included in the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, which fully or partly exempts many goods manufactured by them from U.S. import duties.

Despite these trade preferences, Armenian exports to the United States have been quite modest to date. Official Armenian statistics for 2015 put them at just $55 million. U.S. exports to Armenia were worth twice as much last year.

Aimee Larsen has arrived in Armenia to present business opportunities stemming from GSP and legal procedures for qualifying for the trade scheme. 

"I'm here today to help increase the awareness of the GSP program that gives duty-free access to Armenia over 3,500 products," Larsen told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "I'm hoping that : Armenian exporters will be able to increase their trade with the United States."

"Armenian exporters don't know everything about GSP that they could, and the reason why Aimee is here is to explain that to them so that they can take advantage of it," Clark Price, the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Armenia, said for his part.

"It's very important to put this in the context of U.S.-Armenian relations," added the diplomat. "We had a [bilateral] Trade and Investment Council meeting last year for the first time. One of the things that the Armenian government asked us was help with GSP. So we are delivering on our promise."

The U.S. deputy chief of mission in Armenia pointed out a "tremendous amount of potential" for increasing U.S.-Armenian trade. "We see no limits actually," said Clark Price. "We are very enthusiastic about the potential."

"We're not just talking about American exports to Armenia. We're supporting Armenian exports to the U.S. truly in a bilateral way," Price told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Experts say that the Generalized System of Preferences has allowed a number of countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea to give a fresh impetus to development of their economy, establishing closer ties with the United States.   

Armenia can do the same, Mr.Price said, noting that Armenia's EEU membership will not hinder expansion of the trade ties with Washington.