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“I think all of you know that my top priority as an Ambassador for the last two years has been to improve economic ties and trade between Armenian and the United States,” U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills stated at a briefing on Wednesday. 

The Ambassador’s remarks came at the end of the conference hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, where U.S. trade representatives discussed export opportunities with the Armenian business community.

In his remarks, U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills underscored that the goal of the U.S. delegation is to demonstrate real results for U.S.-Armenia trade relations by raising awareness in the Armenian business community about the benefits of GSP.  “We hear from many Armenian businesses leaders that they don’t know about GSP and don’t know enough about who is qualified and how it works.  The delegation is here with us today to share information on how Armenia can unlock its export potential to the United States by fully utilizing GSP,” Ambassador Mills noted.

To note, GSP provides preferential duty-free entry for up to 3,451 products from 129 designated beneficiary countries and territories, including Armenia.  As the US Embassy reported in a release, as a beneficiary country, the majority of U.S. imports from Armenia entered the United States under the GSP program from 2012-2016.  Current Armenian exports to the United States through GSP are valued at $25 million.  Products range from aluminum foil (accounting for 75% of GSP imports) and precious metal jewelry to fermented beverages and cherry jam.

The journalist also asked the Ambassador about the possibility of signing a new double taxation agreement between the United States and Armenia. Ambassador Mills noted the Armenian government has raised the issue. “We are prepared to look at the treaty if it proves necessary to foster trade and investment. For now, the existing double taxation treaty which has been in effect since the 1970s in our view remains valid and is sufficient to cover trade and business between our two countries but we wait to hear and see what evidence the Armenian government will present to justify a new treaty” Ambassador Mills said.