Skip to main content

India-US steel feud escalates as WTO sets up key panel

By
 India-US steel feud escalates as WTO sets up key panel
The compliance panel was set up on Friday after a meeting of the dispute settlement body, despite the US opposing the move
The ongoing trade spat between India and the US has intensified after the World Trade Organization (WTO) set up a compliance panel following India’s request on the non-implementation of the appellate body’s ruling against countervailing duties (CVD) imposed by the US on Indian hot-rolled carbon steel products.
Confirming the move, a commerce ministry official speaking under condition of anonymity said the compliance panel was set up on Friday after a meeting of the dispute settlement body, despite the US opposing the move.The case pertains to India filing a WTO complaint in 2012 against the US CVD on India’s exports of hot-rolled carbon steel flat products. The dispute settlement panel gave a mixed verdict in July, 2014 which was further challenged by both countries before an appellate panel, the highest adjudicating body at the WTO
India achieved a significant victory as the appellate body in its report in December 2014 ruled that the CVD imposed by the US is inconsistent with various provisions of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). The appellate body asked the US to amend the US Code which mandates cumulating subsidized imports and dumped imports to arrive at the injury margin. India had particularly challenged this measure as it has been affecting the CVD investigations by the US, leading to exorbitant duties against India.
However, India complained to WTO in June 2017 that even after the due period, US has not amended its domestic laws to make them compliant with the WTO rules. Both sides went through a consultation period but failed to resolve the matter. India finally requested setting up a panel to examine the US compliance in this matter which was accepted by the dispute settlement body on Friday.
India and the US have been engaged in a series of trade battles recently. The Trump administration has been accusing India of unfair trade practices and has challenged most of its export subsidies at WTO. It has also not granted India an exemption on the unilateral hike in steel and aluminium tariffs, unlike its other strategic allies. It has also announced a review of generalized system of preferences through which Indian exporters get preferential market access to the US and has kept India in its intellectual property rights priority watch list in its latest Special 301 report. The US treasury department earlier this month also added India to the currency practices watch list.

The Mint, New Delhi, 30th April 2018

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

By
  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

By
  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Healthy balance sheets augur well for economy: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra

By
  Large tariffs by the United States administration and elevated geopolitical risk have increased near-term global financial stability risks, and along with weather events pose downside risks to domestic growth, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in the foreword to the Financial Stability Report released today.Noting that domestic growth momentum is buoyed by strong domestic drivers, sound macroeconomic fundamentals and prudent policies, Malhotra said: “External spillovers and weather-related events could pose downside risks to growth.”On the other hand, he said the outlook for inflation is benign, and there is greater confidence in the durable alignment of inflation with the Reserve Bank’s target.Commenting that the structural shifts reshaping the global economy are making policy intervention challenging, the Governor emphasised the need for central banks and financial sector regulators to remain vigilant, prudent and agile in safeguarding their economies and...
Post a Comment
Read more