India and USA Mutually Resolve Six Trade Disputes in WTO

India and USA Mutually Resolve Six Trade Disputes in WTO

Six items of disagreement between India and the US have been resolved. Both countries submitted their reports to the World Trade Organization on July 13, indicating they mutually agreed on the problems.

Indian news agency PTI announced that India and the US have mutually resolved their concerns about the measures taken for some steel and aluminum products and additional duties imposed on some products from the US. Likewise, in the statement made by the World Trade Organization (WTO), it was stated that the two countries had mutually agreed on two issues on which they had disagreements.

In this context, in the report prepared by PTI, it was stated that, following the Dispute Resolution Concept, the panel reports provide a brief explanation of the two issues in dispute and draw attention to the fact that a solution has been reached.

The two countries also reached an agreement on six articles with which they had commercial disputes.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent state visit to the United States, both countries announced that they had reached a settlement on six items of disagreement and reported to the World Trade Organization. They agreed to lift retaliatory tariffs on certain US imports.

The United States, India's largest trading partner, had imposed a 25 percent import tax on steel products and a 10 percent duty on some aluminum products in 2018 due to national security concerns. In contrast, India imposed a 28 percent customs duty on products imported from the United States in June 2019. Thus, bilateral goods trade increased from USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22 to USD 128.8 billion in 2022-23.

Issues of past disagreement between the USA and India

Among the disagreements, there were some complaints from India to the US regarding the imposition of compensatory tariffs on some hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India. Additionally, on September 9, 2016, Washington filed a complaint against the United States for local content rules and subsidies imposed on the energy industry by California, Montana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware, and Minnesota governments.

The US complaints against India concerned local content requirements for solar cells and modules under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. In this context, the US filed a complaint against India's so-called export subsidies in 2018.