Obama Should Press India on Trade Barriers During Impending Summit, Says Letter
President Barack Obama needs to hammer home the need to remove Indian non-tariff barriers for U.S. exports when the Indian head of government comes to Washington, D.C. in the coming days, business leaders said in a Sept. 25 letter. After taking office in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on Sept. 29 (here).
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The previous Indian government, the letter said, imposed local content requirements and a host of patent infringing and piracy facilitating policies. “These issues are systemic, going far beyond any one industry sector,” said the letter, which included sixteen business organizations, such as The National Foreign Trade Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “In the manufacturing, agriculture, telecommunications, biopharmaceutical, solar energy, entertainment, semiconductor, and other sectors, many companies face measures that are discriminatory, unfair, or inconsistent with international norms.” The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in April chose to not label India a Priority Foreign Country, the most severe classification of an intellectual property rights violator, despite pressure from the pharmaceutical industry (see 14050101).
The letter also criticized India for its recent obstruction of the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement, as well as market access restrictions. “The new Indian government has also raised tariffs and imposed burdensome new testing requirements on information and communication technology products from the United States and other countries,” said the letter. “These actions send perplexing and contradictory new signals about India’s role in the global marketplace.”