|
India challenges US visa rule at WTO, eyes steel case
NEW DELHI, April 12, 2012 (Reuters): India is challenging a U.S. law that raised visa fees for
high-skilled foreign workers as a violation of global trade commitments and is planning another case against U.S. import duties on steel pipe,
Indian officials said on Tuesday in the latest sign of prickly trade ties between the two allies.
The complaint at the World Trade Organization against the 2010 U.S. visa fee increase, which India protested at the
time, is at the level of "consultations" between the two parties, the last stage before entering a full-fledged legal dispute.
"India is taking up consultations on this issue and hopes to solve it amicably," an India trade ministry official said, asking not to be named
because of the sensitivity of the matter. Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma raised the visa
issue during a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who visit in India late March, the official added.
India's complaint is about a U.S. law from 2010 that almost doubled visa
fees for skilled workers to $4,500 per applicant. The bill's sponsor, Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said at the time that
the move was aimed at a small group of companies exploiting U.S. law to import workers from abroad.
India's economy has benefited greatly from information technology firms
doing offshore work for U.S. companies, but such outsourcing has become
an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, with President Barack Obama.
Nkenge Harmon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office,
said the United States had not yet received a formal request for consultations from India and "therefore is not in a position to comment."
"However, the United States takes its WTO obligations seriously," she added.
Once a country formally request consultations, WTO rules require it to
wait 60 days before asking a dispute settlement panel be formed to hear
its complaint. "I think the government of India is right that this is a barrier to
trade," Vineet Nayyar, CEO of large Indian software services exporter Tech Mahindra, told Reuters.
However, the way the Obama administration has implemented the provision
has made it harder for Indian technology workers to obtain visas, not easier, he said.
"Now what has happened over the years is, notwithstanding all the assurances that have been held out, the rejection rates (for visas) have
steadily climbed," the senior official added.
Key WTO members to meet at Davos next week
New Delhi, January 22, 2012: Trade ministers from key WTO member
countries, including India, scheduled to meet at Davos in Switzerland on January 28, are expected to discuss worrisome economic
scenario and its impact on the global trade. The meeting, to be also attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand
Sharma, would be hosted by the Swiss government on the sidelines of the
annual event of the World Economic Forum
Director General of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy would also
be attending, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said in an e-mail response.
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht are also likely to be present there.
While the ministers are expected to underscore the need for renewing
interest in the stalled Doha Round of global trade negotiations, they would also be discussing the threat of protectionism in the backdrop of
global slowdown.
India, along with several other developing countries, has been raising
concerns over rising trend of protectionism in some front-ranking developed countries.
A latest report from the United Nations has also expressed apprehensions
over global economy facing increased trade protectionism. It said the political will to resist such measures is facing rising pressure.
"...Given the present international economic environment, there is still
a danger that more countries will enhance protectionist measures,
especially non-tariff measures (NTMs), should political emotions dull the memories of the damaging effects of
past policies," the report said.
On the contentious 10 year-old Doha Round, suggestions have been floated
whether the WTO member countries should settle for "smaller packages",
based on what has been agreed upon thus far. The WTO tenet of 'all or nothing' has not worked since there is a wide
divergence between the rich and the developing countries on the level of
protection and opening of the global trade. |
|
|
