WTO panel rules against India’s import duties on certain ICT products

The dispute panel of the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Monday said the import duties imposed by India on certain informational and technology products violates global trading norms. The ruling followed a dispute filed by the European Union, Japan and Taiwan against these duties in the WTO. "We recommend that India bring such measures into conformity with its obligations under the GATT 1994," the WTO panel's report said.

The WTO has circulated three panel reports in the cases brought by the European Union, Japan and Chinese Taipei in India -- Tariff Treatment on Certain Goods in the Information and Communications Technology sector. The EU on April 2, 2019 had challenged the introduction of import duties by India on a wide range of ICT products, for instance, mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments. The duties ranged between 7.5 per cent and 20 per cent.The European Union had claimed that the measures appear to be inconsistent with certain provisions of the WTO.

India will appeal against this ruling and it will not have any adverse impact on the domestic industry. The dispute was filed on imposition of import duties by India on certain ICT products, including telephones for cellular networks; machines for reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data; and parts of telephone sets. India has since 2014 gradually introduced customs duties of up to 20 per cent on products such as mobile phones, mobile phone components and accessories, line telephone handsets, base stations, static converters or electric wires and cables, it added.