India and the US agreed to explore the issue further and find a solution that addresses both countries’ concerns.
The United States has raised concerns on India’s move to impose licensing conditions on imports of computers, laptops, tablets and some other electronic components and both sides have agreed to discuss the issue further.
The issue was raised at the bilateral meeting between US trade representative Katherine Tai and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday.
She noted that there were stakeholders that needed an opportunity to review and provide input to ensure that the policy, if implemented, does not have an adverse impact on US exports to India, a statement issued by Tai’s office said.
India and the US agreed to explore the issue further and find a solution that addresses both countries’ concerns.
India had imposed import restrictions on computers, laptops, tablets and other similar devices earlier this month. From November 1 this year, the importers would have to procure a licence to bring these items into India.
India had justified this move on the grounds of national security. The officials had said that with licensing, they want to ensure that electronic devices from trusted sources enter India and the second argument for this restriction was to aid domestic manufacturing.
At the bilateral meeting both Goyal and Tai asked their team of officials to continue discussions to find a way to end the pending dispute at the WTO. India had agreed to end six disputes at the WTO when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US in June.
The pending dispute involved India putting restrictions on poultry imports from the US. On a complaint at the WTO against the move, the ruling was against India. As India did not implement the decision of the WTO, the US had sought compensation.
Source:financialexpress.com