Message to the Congress on Amendments to the Generalized System of Preferences

January 29, 1988

To the Congress of the United States:

I am writing concerning the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. The GSP program is authorized by the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (``the Act'').

I am hereby providing notice of my intent to remove Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan from their status as beneficiaries of the GSP program as of January 2, 1989, under Section 504(a)(1) of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2464(a)(1)). All four have achieved an impressive level of economic development and competitiveness, which can be sustained without the preferences provided by the program. Graduating these economies may also enable other less developed countries to benefit more fully from the GSP program.

Ronald Reagan

The White House,

January 29, 1988.