New Delhi: India wants the US and other developed countries to roll back protectionist moves against its BPO units and software workers employed overseas.

The country, which the World Bank named as the most active nation in imposing anti-dumping duties, will also be under pressure from the US and China to open up its markets.

The protectionism row could lead to much acrimony and hard bargaining over trade openings, said officials accompanying the Prime Minister to the G20 summit.

India has hiked duties on steel and imposed anti-dumping duties on textiles, television parts and aluminium products. It has also taken punitive action against Chinese toys.Today, the Indian government imposed anti-dumping duties on Vitamin E from China and hexamine (a heating agent) from Iran.

The group of major industrialised nations needs “to avoid protectionism in the trade of both goods and services”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement before his departure for the London summit.

“The G20 has an important role to play in addressing the global economic and financial slowdown by taking co-ordinated and purposeful action,” Singh said.

Officials said though India would try to protect its own turf, it was vulnerable to pressure from the US on trade restrictions in infotech.

However, analysts justified India’s actions. “The measures taken by India cannot be termed as protectionist. The duties were cut to fight high inflation and they have been restored, which is falsely being misconstrued as protectionist moves,” K. T. Chacko of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade said.

However, Chacko admitted that though safety restrictions were imposed on toys from China, the domestic toy industry did not follow similar norms.

According to a recent World Bank report, developing countries account for a majority of anti dumping duty measures, with India accounting for 29 per cent.

“Since the G20 leaders signed the pledge in November to avoid protectionist measures, 17 members of the group have implemented 47 measures whose effect is to restrict trade at the expense of other countries.”

The US has banned Chinese poultry, while the EU has stepped up farm subsidies.

JAYANTA ROY CHOWDHURY AND R. SURYAMURTHY

March 31, 2009

Source: www.telegraphindia.com