In a major victory for India, Suppachai Panitchpakdi, director-general of World Trade Organization said on Friday that any deal to break the impasse in the contentious farm trade talks
As attempts are stepped up to "steamroll" World Trade Organization (WTO) members to agree to a package of commitments in the Doha trade negotiations by Wednesday, it's time to assess what India is going to secure in agriculture, market-opening for industrials, services and other areas.
Addressing the 'Namaste Trump' event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Trump said that both the countries are in the early stages of discussion for an 'incredible' trade agreement to reduce barriers of investments.
He conveyed India's position to visiting Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization Jose Graziano da Silva whom he urged to take the lead in protecting the interests of the poor and farmers at the World Trade Organisation.
As the US fights China on issues of intellectual property at the World Trade Organization, India asked Washington on Friday to address the issue of easy availability of pirated Indian films and music in the American market.
While an official in the Commerce Department indicated a trade war was in the offing, till now the government has been in wait-and-watch mode.
India on Thursday said it will support a candidate from a developing country for the top post of the the World Trade Organization (WTO) that is to be decided by the end of May.
Farmers will march towards Delhi on Tuesday after a meeting with two Union ministers over their demands, including legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for crops, remained inconclusive.
The US agreed to India's proposal on food security issues at WTO on Thursday.
'It took us 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2,730.' 'According to IMF projections, it will take only five years to add another $2,000.'
These concrete steps should include measures to address any number of pressing concerns, including prohibitively high tariffs and discriminatory forced localization requirements that are blocking US exports of a wide range of products.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said India will not "rush to" the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the "regressive" steps taken by the US recently, which include an increase in the visa fee and a special levy on foreign manufacturers.
Even as the bilateral relationship between the two neighbouring countries remains hostile, there is growing coordination between India and Pakistan on one multilateral forum - the World Trade Organization (WTO). Both countries have made two joint submissions at the WTO as co-sponsors in the past two months. In June, Pakistan joined India, Cuba, and 44 African countries, seeking sufficient flexibility in intellectual property rights for developing countries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
Modi is the first Indian premier to visit the Silicon Valley and meet its top CEOs
India has consistently demanded that about 8 per cent of farm tariff lines to be exempted from the tariff reduction commitments while 12 per cent of tariff lines to be subjected to a minimum cut below 10 per cent. The United States, Australia, Uruguay, Thailand and Malaysia, however, vehemently opposed India's demands during what are called the Walk in Woods meetings convened by the chair for Doha agriculture negotiations Ambassador Crawford Falconer last week.
The government will take up the issue of describing India as a 'unsafe destination' with the World Trade Organization, to prevent a decline in the number of tourists visiting the country after tsunami.
The Centre is unlikely to offer new direct tax incentives for units operating in special economic zones (SEZs) and may instead allow the grandfathering of previous exemptions that such units were entitled to, according to proposed amendments to the SEZ Act, 2005, people aware of the matter said. The amendments, proposed by the commerce department, will soon be considered by the Cabinet for approval. This represents a departure from the department's earlier plan to introduce these changes through the Development Enterprises and Services Hubs (DESH) Bill, 2023, which faced strong criticism from the ministry of finance.
'Its people are either victims of corruption or witnesses to it.'
A look at the key decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government in its six months.
'Trump's disregard for norms and institutions could prove very costly for America's social fabric.'
Out of India's total merchandise trade of $641 billion in 2015-16, Pakistan accounted for a meagre $2.67 billion
India decided last week not to ratify WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement.
In an interaction with a group of Indian journalists, the three-time prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N described Jaishankar's visit as a "good opening" and said both sides should now engage and move forward.
Why can't the Indian government propose to the Chinese a corridor circumambulating the Holy Mountain where people from both sides could perform the yatra again? asks Claude Arpi.
The WTO has already significantly lowered its sights since a decade of Doha talks broke down, forcing the body to focus on a much less ambitious set of reforms.
A day after lambasting e-commerce players for predatory pricing, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said he is not against online platforms but India wants such entities to be "fair and honest" in their conduct. Speaking with reporters in the financial capital, the outspoken Union minister said the rule of the law should be followed in letter and spirit, and made it clear that consumer preferences should not be influenced by algorithms.
Agreement 'endorsed' by members and being legally vetted but will be part of the main Doha agenda only after a tenuous process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for reforming the World Health Organisation and streamlining its approval process for vaccines and therapeutics, and favoured making flexible the WTO's rules relating to trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights.
'Every type of deal that US government officials were privately indicating 'hope' to have included a few months back made it in.'
Time's profile of Modi says that in its 74 years as an independent nation, India has had three pivotal leaders -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Modi. "Narendra Modi is the third, dominating the country's politics like no one since them."
Removal of this status means India can now enhance customs duties to any level on goods coming from Pakistan.
In days of smart, networked technology and no shame over collateral damage, what will blow up next -- cars, mobile phones, TV sets, refrigerators? And where?, asks Shyam G Menon.
The declining exports would have implications for the job market.
Foreign direct investments into the country is on the rise, jumping to $12.1 billion in May this year, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. He also said the government is working on a mission mode to achieve exports target of $400 billion in 2021-22. "India has received the highest ever FDI inflow in 2020-21. "It surged by 10 per cent to $81.72 billion and FDI during May 2021 is $12.1 billion, i.e. 203 per cent higher than May 2020," he said while addressing a meeting of different industry associations on promoting exports.
India's recent move to remove additional 'retaliatory' duty on eight products from the United States (US), including apples and walnuts, would not have any negative impact on the domestic producers, the government clarified, even as the issue threatened to snowball into a political slugfest between the ruling and Opposition parties. The move would, in fact, result in competition in the premium market segment, ensuring better quality at better prices for consumers, especially for apples, a senior government official said. "There were certain concerns that were being raised on the mutually agreed solution that has come in, more specific to seven-eight agriculture products where we had levied additional import duties in retaliation to the steel and aluminum measures (imposed by the US)," Peeyush Kumar, additional secretary in the commerce department, told reporters in a briefing.
The intelligence wing of Central Board of Excise and Customs has 532 officers and staff, he said, adding, the staff strength of DRI will double when cadre review is completely rolled out.
The WTO has resumed work at Geneva from September 1 after a month long vacation.
The G20 chair has suggested three areas for the talks in Argentina - the future of work, infrastructure for development and a sustainable food future, areas where India has a lot at stake.
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