NEW DELHI: As talks with the European Union (EU) on resolving the dispute around Indian import tariffs on information technology products hit a roadblock, to preempt the adoption of an adverse ruling that had been delivered in the case at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) New Delhi has filed an appeal.
India and EU have negotiated for the past seven months to arrive at the Mutually Agreed Solution (MAS) to the dispute. In those talks India had offered to lower duties on the products where the EU is seeking lower tariffs in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for which negotiations are in progress.
India made it clear that a mutually agreed solution is not possible unless both sides have an FTA, an official said.
These products are mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments and are of interest to India because they are covered by the Production Linked Incentive schemes.
As talks broke down, the EU asked for the adoption of the report of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) which said in April that Indian tariffs violate WTO agreement on Information and Communication Technology that binds members to zero duties on these products. India imposes 20% import duty on mobile phones and 15% on telecommunications equipment.
India filed the appeal against adoption of the report the day after the EU filed its request for adoption of the report. The appeal was circulated to the WTO members on Thursday, a WTO statement said.
The EU had challenged the Indian import duties at the WTO in April 2019. Later, Chinese Taipei and Japan joined the dispute.
“With Chinese Taipei we are taking a few months time (to settle the dispute),” the official added. India has already filed an appeal against Japan.
The EU’s total exports of the products where it is seeking lower duties were $ 340.15 million in 2022.
As currently the Appellate Body is not functional at the WTO because there are no members to adjudicate the dispute. Once the appellate body does get appointed all the appeals would be put before it.
Reviving the appeals system has been one of the most fiercely contested subjects at the WTO. With no agreement on the issue among WTO members, the appeal by India effectively sends the dispute into deep freeze.
Source: The Financial Express
The post At WTO, India Blocks EU Move For Ruling To Lower ICT Tariffs first appeared on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.
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