US Trade Deal Gives Boost to Serbian Exports

The Serbian Chamber of Commerce announced on Monday that the United States Congress has approved a trade programme for Serbia, which will allow preferential duty-free exports of any of 5,000 specified products to the US.

The programme, called the Generalized System of Preferences, will be in force from July 29 until the end of 2017. It allows Serbian companies to potentially gain an advantage by selling their products more cheaply on the US market.

The right for Serbian companies to export goods to the US without taxes expired in July 2013, which significantly influenced a subsequent decrease in exports to the US.

According to media reports, Serbian exports to the US were 46 per cent lower in 2014 than the year before. Serbia exported goods worth around $531 million to the US in 2013.

The new Congress decision is retroactive so US Customs will pay back Serbian businessmen any taxes that have been paid since July 2013.

Serbia mainly exports mainly weapons, cars and frozen agricultural products to the US.

Sasa Djogovic, a Belgrade-based Institute of Market Research associate, told BIRN that the Congress decision was a "new chance" for Serbian businessmen but that they will have to work hard in order to seize the opportunity.

"They need to work closely with the Serbian government, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia. The companies who have already exported their goods to the US have an opportunity to increase the volume of that export while others have a chance to try to enter the US market," Djogovic said.

Serbian businessmen should also contact the Serb diaspora in the US in order to find potential distributors of their goods, Djogovic added.

"This is just a chance and it...