The United States has terminated the duty-free tariff regime for exports of gold jewellery and brass lamps from India.

Indian jewellery exports will now attract 6.5 per cent duty in the US.

The US Administration on Friday issued a proclamation ending the 'generalised system of preference' (GSP) � a tariff regime that allows the US Government to extend preferential tariff arrangements for select countries.

Reports from the US said India's jewellery exports would now attract import tariff applicable for exports from other countries engaged in the same trade.

India exported gold jewellery worth $1.6 billion and $20 million worth of brass lamps under the GSP programme in the first 10 months of 2006.
Out of the total jewellery purchased by US from various countries, Indian jewellery accounts for 33.2 per cent.

Duty-free imports into the US under the GSP accounted for $32.6 billion worth of goods from developing countries in 2006.

Reports said the reason for termination could be that such duty-free access is no longer required for these products as the countries in question have reached a specified threshold level from where they could compete without the aid of concessional tariff.

A Bill approved by Congress in December last stipulated new guidelines for determining whether a particular product is eligible for duty-free treatment under the GSP programme.