Hearings to begin Wednesday.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The impending trade investigations being undertaken by the US International Trade Commission (USITC), which is set to hold its initial public hearings on February 12, are being treated as a “matter of routine,” and are not feared to be potentially devastating in any way to Indian industry or to US-India relations.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, Indian ministry sources told The American Bazaar that such investigations happen frequently and are “no big deal,” and that Indian government officials have spoken to USITC investigators, who they say are going into the country with no pre-conceived notions and will base their report solely on the evidence they see rather than on any unwanted biases that could jeopardize the investigation’s efficacy.
As was announced in August, the hearings will begin Wednesday afternoon, and testimonies (written and oral) will be accepted until April 11. So far, there are 23 organizations and/or companies that have either submitted or in the process of submitting testimonies to the USITC panel – one written testimony from Boeing and 22 oral ones.
Of the latter 22, The American Bazaar has been told that about half of them are not in India’s favor and have exaggerated the facts of the case, while the latter half remains reasonably balanced. While this was not taken to mean that those that are balanced are 100% pro-India, sources said that the overall assessment is a moderately positive pro-India cumulative. Boeing, in particular, has given a strong testimony in favor of India, and is considered a critical ally in protecting Indian industry from further downgrading and attacks on its reputation.
The two main issues that have been lodged against India are its lack of proper intellectual property laws, specifically in the pharmaceutical sphere, and its provisions on local content and manufacturing, particularly as it pertains to India’s solar panel program, which on Monday was attacked yet again by the US in the form of a pending case with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Four other “subsidiary issues” have also come up during the USITC testimonials: poultry and dairy access to India, the former of which is a problem that’s already being resolved with the WTO; sanitary standards in manufacturing plants all across the country; income tariffs being prohibitively high in order to inflate foreign goods’ prices and make domestic goods more attractive (as well as export tariffs being so high for the same reason); and the preponderance of governmental red tape in India that makes the country so unattractive for businesses.
For its part, the Indian government is taking a decidedly hands-off approach to the USITC probe, saying that it will facilitate whenever requested – setting up interviews, putting people in touch, and things of that nature – but will not be actively engaging with the USITC for the duration of the investigation. This was said to be a deliberate move on India’s part. There will be two USITC visits to India, and none after the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources also said that they felt a concerted effort was being made to attack Indian industry, and that the recent accumulation of downgrading that India has incurred is part of an effort to undermine the country in the lead-up to the USITC panel beginning its hearings. There was no confirmation or speculation, however, as to whether or not the US government itself is holding any grudge against India, or whether this is some type of politically motivated punitive action.
The USITC – which is a bipartisan organization with six heads, half Republican and half Democrat – will then draft its report and hand it to the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means in November of this year, thus ending its involvement with the India investigation. The probe was commissioned by these two Congressional bodies, and it will then be up to them to go over the findings of the report and decide what further action should be taken, if any.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com