Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / Policy/  US faces tough questions on steel import tariffs at Delhi WTO summit
BackBack

US faces tough questions on steel import tariffs at Delhi WTO summit

India questions talks on new issues at a time when existing rules can't be enforced

Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu with WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Facebook@Suresh PrabhuPremium
Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu with WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Facebook@Suresh Prabhu

New Delhi: The US move to block appointments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) appellate body and its unilateral hiking of tariffs on steel and aluminium came in for heavy criticism from participants at the informal WTO ministerial here, with India questioning negotiations on fresh issues at the multilateral body at a time when existing rules cannot be enforced.

However, the US remained adamant on making judgments of the appellate body voluntary rather than mandatory while signalling that it wants to remain engaged with other countries on the matter at the WTO.

The US was represented at the meeting by deputy US trade representative Dennis Shea, while China was represented by its vice minister of commerce Wang Shouwen.

Interestingly, India’s trade minister Suresh Prabhu didn’t have a bilateral meeting with Shea. He said Chinese trade minister Zhong Shan will visit India on Monday to hold the long-pending joint economic group meeting where India’s rising trade deficit with China will be discussed.

While expectations from the two-day summit, attended by trade envoys from 51 countries, were low with no joint declaration expected, an Indian diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity said the key difference between talks among members at the 11th WTO ministerial at Buenos Aires and New Delhi is that the US remained engaged this time around.

In his concluding remarks as the chair of the meeting, Prabhu said almost all participants sought expeditious and immediate resolution of the impasse in the appointment of appellate body members—an issue that was viewed as adversely affecting the credibility and functioning of the WTO.

The seven-member appellate body now has only four left and if the US continues to block new appointments, by January 2020 only one member will be left in the body, thus completely shutting down the dispute settlement mechanism. Prabhu said members need to expeditiously resolve the impasse at the appellate body and strive to preserve the dispute settlement pillar of the WTO. “What good is it to invest efforts in the negotiation of rules if they cannot be effectively implemented and impartially enforced because the appellate body is rendered dysfunctional," he asked.

Prabhu in his summary said many interventions expressed concern at the serious threat posed to the credibility of the WTO rules and some of its cardinal principles, such as non-discrimination, by the cycle of recent unilateral trade measures and proposed counter-measures.

“In some interventions the need for WTO members taking urgent and coordinated action to address the underlying issues was highlighted," he added.

WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said the unilateral move by the US has “very real potential for escalation".

“And that is something we should avoid and that is what we heard today. Many many countries saying we have a concern with it, there is potential for escalation and we have to proceed very carefully and try to work within the framework of the WTO," he said.

A foreign trade diplomat present at the meeting said China raised strong objections to the US move to raise tariffs, holding that it does not augur well for multilateralism and WTO.

In his intervention, Prabhu said India is ready to look at some of the so-called new issues such as investment facilitation and e-commerce only after India is convinced that these issues are trade-related and negotiating binding rules on them will be beneficial for developing countries, including least developed countries. “On both these accounts, we are open to being persuaded by the proponents," he added.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 21 Mar 2018, 01:59 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App