India has urged the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to reconsider its 12.5% tariff, asserting that trade issues should be resolved through bilateral negotiations rather than unilateral measures
amid disagreements over a US investigation into forced labour concerns.
The USTR launched two separate Section 301 investigations in March encompassing 60 countries, including India, over allegations related to forced labour and excess industrial capacity. On June 3, the USTR issued its findings in the forced labour investigation and proposed additional tariffs on imports from these economies.
The proposal included a 10% tariff on imports from Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan, and a 12.5% tariff on imports from 54 countries, including India and China. The measure has not been finalised so far.
India’s Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Brij Mohan Mishra, flagged inconsistencies in the investigation during a public hearing, saying India takes the elimination of forced labour similarly as a constitutional obligation and international law, according to news agency PTI.
He argued that the USTR had not satisfied the relevant legal standards under Section 301(d) of the Trade Act. A mere absence of a forced labour import prohibition without evidentiary basis of other statutory requirements cannot be construed as unreasonable under Section 301, he added.
