EU WINS WTO CASE AGAINST INDIA’S TRADE TARIFFS ON IT PRODUCTS

Mon 17 Apr 2023:

The European Union has won a case against India’s trade tariffs on information and communication technology (ICT) products in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Commission (EC) announced on Monday.

“In its panel ruling, the WTO upheld all EU claims against India and found that India’s tariffs of up to 20% on certain ICT products, such as mobile phones, were not in line with its WTO commitments, and thus are illegal,” the EC said in a statement.

The statement also noted that the value of products affected by India’s trade restrictions amounts to 600 million Euros ($655 million) per year.

“While this is already significant, the real impact on European companies, which also export from other countries to India, is considerably higher,” the statement added.

The WTO ruled that India brought no valid reasons to justify this measure and is not allowed to exclude more recent products from its zero-duty obligation.

“The panel also confirmed that no mistake was committed when determining India’s tariff commitments, including when the tariff lines nomenclatures were updated, and refused to examine India’s request to rectify its tariff commitments,” the statement said.

Since 2014, India has been introducing tariffs of up to 20% on various IT products, including smartphones and its components. In 2019, the EU appealed the WTO to resolve the issue. The same year, Japan and Taiwan filed almost identical cases and the WTO is expected to announce a similar verdict later in the day.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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