India asks the WTO a consult with US about tariffs increase
India asked the World Trade Organization to open consultations with the US on the tariff increases. According to the organization, Washington decreed the tariff increase of 25 percent for steel and 10percent for aluminum, in breach of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed in 1994, as well as the Safeguards Agreement.
It is worth noting that it is not the first economy that requests the consultation, China did the same on April 10 and the European Union (EU) did it on the 17th of that same month, although the EU is for the moment released from that measure just like Mexico and Canada and at the moment is negotiating with the US. According to a document published on the official website of the organization, India described the measure as protectionist.
India's claims are based on the provisions of the Agreement on Safeguards and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, signed in 1994. In the document presented, he said that the measures, operated independently or jointly, are incompatible with the United States obligations.
The tariffs were decreed last March by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, establishing taxes of 25 percent on imports of steel and 10 percent on aluminum. According to India, US tariffs are safeguard measures, which is why they are included in the corresponding agreements of the WTO. Given this situation, the Asian country will appeal to the international organization to demand that Wasington compensate the tariffs in question.
The WTO website clarifies that the consultation takes place within the framework of the dispute settlement system and the request was distributed to WTO Members on May 23. This measure will give both parties the possibility to discuss the issue and find a solution without receiving the litigation.
The international organization consultation procedure establishes a period of 60 days to postpone the litigation, which would be a long and complicated arbitration process for the organization. If the consultations do not take place within that period, India may ask the WTO to set up a dispute resolution panel.
For his part, US President Donald Trump, postponed until the end of this month the decision on the increase of tariffs in the case of the EU and its neighbors, also exonerated indefinitely Argentina, Brazil and Australia of the economic measure. Similarly, South Korea remained safe from trade restriction.
