19 U.S.C. § 2461 — Authority to extend preferences

The President may provide duty-free treatment for any eligible article from any beneficiary developing country in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter. In taking any such action, the President shall have due regard for— (1) the effect such action will have on furthering the economic development of developing countries through the expansion of their exports; (2) the extent to which other major developed countries are undertaking a comparable effort to assist developing countries by granting generalized preferences with respect to imports of products of such countries; (3) the anticipated impact of such action on United States producers of like or directly competitive products; and (4) the extent of the beneficiary developing country's competitiveness with respect to eligible articles.