India on Friday expressed concern over US’s trade policies, which it said were affecting Indian firms and the multilateral trading system. At the WTO’s 11th Trade Policy Review here, Washington was also asked to review its agricultural policies, including domestic support measures, food aid and export programmes in the new farm Bill coming up. New Delhi urged the US to deliver on the Doha Development Round.
India highlighted the fact that the US decision to substantially increase H1B and L1 visa fees for firms under the 50:50 rule would adversely affect Indian IT companies based in the US, preventing more investments and scaling up. New Delhi encouraged the US to recognise and implement international standards, which would help reduce regulatory barriers to trade due to the complexity of technical regulations and conformity assessment guidelines.
Sources said India also protested on the application of the US`s SPS measures, which is hampering exports of agricultural products such as Basmati rice and Indian fruits to the US. It asked the US to fix specific MRLs based on scientific studies to enable the smooth export of these products from India.
India cited the US FDA Food Safety Modernisation Act as imposing considerable administrative and cost burden on food exporters. Also the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act would act as a market access barrier and increase compliance costs for it would require FIIs to report information on US accounts to the IRS. The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act could shut SMEs out from exporting to the US due to prohibitive costs of foreign manufacturers to register a US-based agent.