Industry Groups Want Action on India's Trade Discrimination
India’s “troubling trend” of trade discrimination -- burdensome local content regulations, flouting of intellectual property rights -- require the U.S. to use all “available tools and diplomatic engagement,” a group of business groups from various industries said in a June 6 letter to President Obama. Courts and lawmakers in India have also engaged in a “persistent pattern of discrimination designed to benefit India’s business community at the expense of American jobs,” said the 17 groups which signed the letter. India recently demanded that nearly 100 percent of its market for certain information technology and clean energy equipment be satisfied through domestic firms, the letter said. Court rulings have also imposed “arbitrary marketing restrictions on medical devices and denying, breaking, or revoking patents for nearly a dozen lifesaving medications.”
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The business groups said such actions are at odds with India’s stated goals about growing its economy, and at odds with international trade obligations. The rulings especially undermine the country’s ability to secure long-term foreign investment, the letter said. The groups urged the U.S. to immediately begin high-level diplomatic talks with India, coordinate closely with other partners such as the European Union, and resort to more “purposeful” responses “if this engagement is not fruitful.” Groups that signed the letter include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Foreign Trade Council, the U.S. Council for International Business and the National Association of Manufacturers.