India-US trade relations

Why is it in news?
  • U.S. Ambassador Kenneth I. Juster will lead a delegation of officials to hold talks with Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu to resolve several sore trade points.
  • It includes the concerns of American CEOs regarding doing business in India and bilateral trade imbalance.
More in news
  • Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) review:
    (1) The status of the review of India’s eligibility for the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) is also likely to come up in the light of recent developments where the U.S. has again threatened to withdraw the export exemptions for India.
    (2) Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) puts GSP under review.
    (3) Under GSP, India is allowed duty-free exports to the U.S. for about 2,000 product lines.
    (4) This move was protested by the Indian government and industry chambers.
  • Other issues that had particularly incensed American businesses are:
    (1) India’s new data localisation rules that force foreign companies to store Indians’ data within the country.
    (2) Rules amending FDI rules in e-commerce that had hurt American giants like Amazon and Walmart.
  • Higher import tariffs:
    (1) Trade tensions between the two countries rose last year when U.S. President Donald Trump notified the imposition of higher import tariffs on steel and aluminium, which affected several countries, including India.
    (2) In retaliation, India announced counter-tariffs on 29 American goods, worth about $235 million, but has delayed implementing them in the hope of resolving the matter.
What is the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)?
  • The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) is a U.S. trade program designed to promote economic growth in the developing world by providing preferential duty-free entry for up to 4,800 products from 129 designated beneficiary countries and territories.
  • The GSP program has effective dates which are specified in relevant legislation, thereby requiring periodical reauthorization in order to remain in effect. 
Source
The Hindu,us.gov



Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 14th Feb 2019
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