India should move out of exploitative agreements in WTO: RSS affiliate SJM

With the US imposing a reciprocal tariff, India should rework its international trade strategy and consider moving out of "exploitative agreements" in WTO, like TRIPS and TRIMS, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) said on Sunday  It said the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has caused India "huge losses" in royalty expenditure, apart from the negative impact it had on public health.

Royalty expenditure by India, which was less than a billion US dollars in the 1990s, has now become more than USD 17 billion a year, the SJM, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said in a statement.

While the TRIPS agreement establishes minimum standards for intellectual property rights (IPRs), the agreement in WTO Trade-Related Investment Measures, or TRIMS, limits certain investment measures that distort trade.

The US recently announced 26 per cent import duties on India, saying New Delhi imposes high tariffs on American goods.

SJM national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said the imposition of "unilateral" tariffs by the Donald Trump administration is a complete violation of the WTO rules.

"Now that we are witnessing a complete disregard for the WTO, it is time to think afresh about the agreements on TRIPS, TRIMS, services and agriculture in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)," he said.

Mahajan said it has been proved that multilateral agreements, such as WTO, are not good for developing countries like Bharat.

"Bilateral agreements are most suited to Bharat. Now the time has come that when developed countries like the US are completely disregarding the WTO, we should think of a strategy to come out of other exploitative agreements including TRIPS in the WTO," he said.

"Now, we have to strategise our international trade to take advantage of this situation," he added.

According to Mahajan, many sectors may benefit from a change in India's international trade strategy.

India's exports may find new markets in the US, while those from China may suffer due to the high reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, he said.

"Also, as the EU and other countries are coming forward for new partnerships in the global value chain in sectors like defence, we should promote and support our industries in acquiring foreign markets post-Trump's tariffs," he added.

Mahajan said Bharat has been a victim of "unfair trade practices" such as dumping by China and unfair subsidies by the Chinese government.

He also listed the obligation to grant MFN (most favoured nation) status even to a non-market economy like China, unfair competition from subsidised agricultural products from developed countries like the US due to WTO's "so-called rule-based international trade system" as some of the instances of the same behaviour.