August 15, 2006

Indian to press ahead with WTO complaint despite US offer
 

A top Indian commerce ministry official said that the US offered concessions on the bond issue before India was scheduled to make a presentation before the WTO at Geneva last week.

However, any offers would have to be evaluated through discussions with exporters,

Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) national president AJ Tharakan said. The crux of the issue taken up before the WTO was the customs bond and it has not been addressed by the offer.

SEAI had earlier taken up the matter with the International Court of Trade and is now awaiting a verdict.

In the latest development, the US had offered to waive the bonds on certain Indian companies based on their financial valuations.

The customs bond currently rides upon the 10.17 percent anti-dumping duty, and Indian exporters say they were unfairly taxed twice.

Indian authorities told the US that the pre-WTO hearing offer was a separate issue from the main issue of bonds to be heard at present and said the US company-based offer would be evaluated after the verdict has been handed down.

Meanwhile, the US has also made concessional offers to Thailand encouraging it to drop its complaint with the WTO.