US, European groups urge India to remove trade barriers

21/12/2014 12:00 - 527 Views

A dozen American and European business organisations have asked India to remove trade and investment barriers, saying they are preventing overseas firms from contributing fully to the country's economic growth.

In a joint letter to the commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman, they called on India to lower tariffs, raise investment caps, end localisation requirements and strengthen intellectual property protection and enforcement.

This, the business organisations said, is important to cut costs and improve the transparency, reliability and consistency of India's policy and regulatory framework.

In the letter, they supported a single federal goods and services tax and swift implementation of WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement commitments.

"US and European companies alike face significant challenges in the Indian market and look forward to promised improvements in India's trade and investment policies," said National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) vice-president of International Economic Affairs Linda Dempsey.

"We welcome opportunities to work with Ms Sitharaman and with our own governments to address barriers and achieve lasting solutions," Ms Dempsey said.

The organisations which signed the letter are BUSINESSEUROPE, National Association of Manufacturers, European Automobile Manufacturers Association, European Chemical Industry Council, DIgitalEurope, Distilled Spirits Council of the USA, European...

Source: Kolkata News