ICT duty dispute: India appeals WTO panel ruling in favour of EU

“India and the EU have negotiated to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution (MAS) for the past seven months, but the EU has now filed for adoption of panel report on December 7 and therefore, India has appealed against it on December 8 in the WTO,” Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Peeyush Kumar told reporters.

He said that during the negotiations, the EU was seeking customs duty concessions on certain goods, which was not acceptable to India as it violates WTO rules. These concessions can only be given in a free trade agreement, Kumar added.

India has imposed higher duties on ICT products as it looks to boost the manufacturing of electronic products with the help of the production-linked incentive scheme. The current strategy has also paid off as India’s electronic products have been on the rise even as broader goods exports have declined during the current fiscal.

There were fears that the dispute could affect India’s efforts to boost electronic product manufacturing — a strategic sector in which India is trying to cut its reliance on China.

However, amid the current deadlock over the appointment of judges at WTO’s appellate body, a decision on the ongoing India-EU dispute could take years. Several disputes are already pending with this body and reforms to address the issue are expected to be taken up during the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference in February next year.