Page 5 - Wto

India pitches for clear definition of e-commerce trade in goods in WTO

India has asked the WTO members to work on a clear definition of e-commerce trade in goods and services as it would help provide developing countries a policy space to make decisions on the fast-growing sector, an official said. At present, there is a difference of understanding about the subject between developed and developing member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The issue came up for discussion during a recent meeting of senior officials of WTO members in Geneva last week. "India stated that the definition should be clear about digital goods and services because customs duties are there on goods and not on services. The Western world wants no customs duties, and on the other hand, developing countries want that policy space to impose the duties," the official said. Customs duties help protect domestic industries and provide a policy space to support the growth of MSMEs. Though certain WTO members have been discussing the e-commerce issue since 1998, there is

US move to withdraw some digital trade proposals at WTO to benefit India

The development comes ahead of the WTO's 13th ministerial conference and will see in-depth discussions on global e-commerce rules that include these topics

India criticises safeguard measures on steel import by EU, UK at WTO meet

Certain WTO countries, including India, Switzerland, Russia, and Japan, have criticised the safeguard measures imposed by the EU and the UK on imports of certain steel products, stating it is inconsistent with global trade rules, an official said. The comments were made by these countries during the meeting of World Trade Organisation's (WTO's) Safeguards Committee on Wednesday. The Geneva-based official said, "Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, China, Korea, Russia and India criticised the European Union's decision to maintain its safeguard measure on imports of certain steel products, which was imposed by the EU after the US imposed additional duties on steel imports during the Trump administration. These members regretted the EU's decision not to terminate the measure during a recent review and argued the safeguard was inconsistent with WTO rules, the official said. However, the EU argued that the safeguard will expire at the end of June 2024. Further India, Korea, Switzerland, Japan,

Senior officials meet of WTO members to begin from tomorrow in Geneva

From India, senior officials, including Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Peeyush Kumar, have reached the WTO headquarter in Geneva

WTO halves 2023 global merchandise trade growth forecast to 0.8%

The report said merchandise trade volume was down 0.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the first half of 2023, but a modest pickup is expected in the second half of the year

Exporters seek more sops for value-added products under Rodtep scheme

Say current structure provides higher refund rates on lesser value-added goods

India-Canada tensions: Multi-billion economic deals at risk if rift widens

But, experts say there may not be an immediate impact

WTO in survival mode pushes back on splintering the global trade

The WTO estimates that the cost of splitting the world trade system into separate blocs would be about 5 per cent of real income at the global level

India agrees to cut import duty to 5-10% on some processed food items

Although the duty reduction stems from negotiations between India and the US, the tariff cut will apply to all countries in line with WTO rules

G20 commits to WTO reforms, aims for dispute settlement system by 2024

The G20 leaders on Saturday expressed their commitment to conduct discussions for having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by 2024. Besides formulating norms for global exports and imports, the Geneva-based 164-member multi-lateral body adjudicates trade disputes among the member countries. The dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO has been derailed due to a non-functional appellate body since December 2019. "We reiterate the need to pursue WTO reform to improve all its functions through an inclusive member-driven process, and remain committed to conducting discussions with a view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024, the G20 declaration said. It said that the leaders expressed commitment to work constructively to ensure positive outcomes at the WTO's Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13). MC, which is the highest decision-making body of the WTO, is schedul

India, US settles last trade dispute at WTO over poultry products

India and the US have settled the last trade dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over poultry products, according to a joint statement released on Friday. With this, the two countries have mutually resolved all the seven pending trade disputes at the WTO. "The leaders lauded the settlement of the seventh and last outstanding WTO dispute between India and the United States. This follows the unprecedented settlement of six outstanding bilateral trade disputes in the WTO in June 2023, the joint statement said. It was issued after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joseph R Biden, Jr., here. Biden is here to attend the G20 Summit to be held on Saturday and Sunday. Modi and the US President vowed to "deepen and diversify" the bilateral major defence partnership while welcoming forward movement in India's procurement of 31 drones and joint development of jet engines. In their over 50-minute talks, the two leaders deliberated on India's G20

India, EU ask WTO not to adopt ruling on ICT import duties till Dec 18

India and the European Union have again asked the WTO's dispute settlement body not to adopt a ruling against New Delhi's import duties on certain information and technology products till December 18 as both sides are engaged in bilateral talks to resolve the matter. Earlier, the two regions sought time till September 19 by making a similar request in June. The WTO's dispute settlement body (DSB) will meet on September 19 in which it would consider adopting a draft decision shared by India and the European Union (EU). "We consider that the draft DSB decision, if adopted, would facilitate the resolution of the dispute," according to a communication of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). For that meeting, they urged the DSB not to adopt the WTO's dispute settlement panel's ruling of April 17, which stated that India's import duties on certain information and technology products are inconsistent with the global trade norms. As per the rules of the WTO, the panel's ruling will have to

Brics enlargement in hope of getting heard

The Brics leaders opposed trade barriers, including those under the pretext of tackling climate change, imposed by certain developed countries and reiterated their commitment to enhancing coordination

Value chains to MSMEs, G20 ministerial meeting lays out focus areas

The ministerial meeting occurred against the backdrop of the global challenges that international trade growth has been facing

India, US looking at ending poultry dispute at WTO, says official

After mutually resolving six trade disputes with the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO), New Delhi and Washington are now trying to engage in ending their last pending dispute over poultry products, a senior government official said on Thursday. In July, India and the US mutually resolved six trade disputes pending at the WTO, in line with the commitment made by the two countries during the US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June. The six disputes include three initiated by India and as many by the US. The official said that now the two countries have resolved six out of seven trade disputes, and we are trying to resolve the seventh also. This matter along with some others are expected to figure during the bilateral meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai in New Delhi. The official added that both countries are also exploring participation of their companies in government procurement systems in either .

Smooth functioning of dispute settlement mechanism in WTO reforms: Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that the smooth functioning of the dispute settlement mechanism and consensus-based decision-making process of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are key in the process of the reforms of the Geneva-based body. Several developed countries including the US are pitching for WTO reforms. It is also one of the priority areas of discussion in the meeting of trade and investment meetings here. G20 member countries are gathering here for that meeting. Goyal also said that common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) should be there in the reforms as different countries have different levels of economic development. The dispute resolution mechanism, which is not working properly for the last few years, needs to be re-established consensus based decision-making should continuethese are few central principles, which should be there in the WTO reforms, he told reporters here. Goyal held a bilateral meeting with WTO Director-Gene

License to lease: How WTO provision became tool for nations to curb imports

While a WTO challenge to India's import curbs on laptops, tablets and personal computers may not happen anytime soon, how it implements the notification will be under close scrutiny

WTO ranks India 18th in merchandise exports

India is ranked 7th in the list of services exporters with exports of $309 billion and 4.4 per cent of global services trade share

Trade experts urge India not to ratify WTO contract on fisheries subsidies

Trade experts and some members of civil society have urged India not to ratify the fisheries subsidies agreement agreed upon by the World Trade Organisation members in Geneva last year and instead commence talks for a comprehensive pact. Members of the Geneva-based WTO on June 17, 2022, secured a 'Geneva Package' which included agreements on curbing harmful fishing subsidies and temporary patent waivers for the production of COVID-19 vaccines. The fisheries agreement finalised would prohibit developed countries, engaged in distant water fishing, not to provide subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities. However, the countries have to negotiate about the other issues of the agreement which include overfishing and overcapacity. "We urge the government not to ratify this unequal agreement. Instead, the government should begin talks on the comprehensive agreement which is already mandated about disciplines for industrial fishing nations under Article 5 pertaini

India, US mutually resolve all 6 trade disputes at WTO following PM's visit

India and the US have mutually resolved all six trade disputes pending at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in line with the commitment made by the two countries during the US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, an official said. The official said that both countries have informed the WTO's dispute settlement body (DSB) about the resolution of all the pending disputes. The WTO has already issued a communication with regard to one of the disputes related to the imposition of additional customs duties by India on 28 US products. The official added that the remaining five communications would also be issued by the WTO. "The United States and India are pleased to notify the DSB (dispute settlement body), in accordance with Article 3.6 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, that the parties have reached a mutually agreed solution to the matter raised in this dispute," according to a communication of the WTO dated July 17. The