Recently, renewal of the GSP program has been controversial as opponents are concerned that more advanced developing countries, such as Brazil and India, do not need the benefits of the program to spur growth, and instead GSP benefits may negatively impact domestic industries. Moreover, many opponents feel that extending or removing GSP benefits to or from countries is an effective means of promoting our foreign policy, such as intellectual property rights in Ukraine or worker-safety in Bangladesh. As a result, there have been lapses between the expiration of the program and its renewal in recent years.

Mollie D. Sitkowski also contributed to this article.