But preferential treatment for exports from
the developing world does not mean that the
developing world will automatically benefit.
For example, the World Bank has found that
“only 39 percent of potentially preferred
imports under the Generalized System of
Preferences into . . . Canada, the EU, Japan, and
the United States actually took advantage of
preferential access—and usage rates are declining.”
63 The reasons for disappointing export
performance by many countries in the developing
world are often more complex than the
critics admit.