U.S. restores duty-free benefits to 42 Indian items

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 8. In a move to remove irritants in bilateral economic relations, the United States today announced the restoration of duty-free benefits for 42 Indian goods, while India agreed to set in motion the process for setting up a formal trade policy group for a regular dialogue.

The decision to give the concessions under the generalised system of preferences (GSP) fulfils a longstanding demand by New Delhi to restore the benefits withdrawn for 100 Indian products.

Currently, exports of the 42 goods is estimated at $ 540 million. These include jewellery, leather and carpet items. The duty-free concessions have been extended under the GSP provisions, a U.S. trade programme that grants duty-free treatment to goods from developing countries.

The grant of duty-free access was disclosed by the visiting U.S. Trade Representative, Mr. Robert Zoellick, after an hour-long meeting with the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran. The USTR, who also discussed issues relating to the coming ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation at Doha, said that India emphasised the importance of the implementation agenda during the meeting.

Senior officials in the USTR's delegation said implementation issues would be examined on their return as India's concerns had been well taken. They also noted that the timing of the concessions showed the U.S. President, Mr. George Bush's determination to identify his priorities, and India clearly was a priority.

Implementation issues

Mr. Maran called for a greater political will by the developed countries on the early resolution of implementation concerns which would contribute substantially to restore the confidence of the developing countries in the WTO. Mr. Zoellick assured him that they would actively work with other countries to generate concrete and meaningful results on the issues raised.

Mr. Maran said that India was concerned about including issues such as investment and competition, which would curtail the development options of the South. On the other hand, developing countries needed to formulate foreign investment policies in relation to their development needs and priorities.On the specific issue of a new round of trade negotiations, Mr. Maran said GATT was a forum for continuous negotiations and a separate track of new round was uncalled for now.

Mr. Zoellick, on the other hand, underlined the need to make concrete progress on the agenda for a new round, including agriculture negotiations, with clearly defined time-frames and scope for further liberalisation.

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