Monday, August 19, 2013: India will not join the negotiations for a US-backed trade pact that would make trading of consumer products like cellphones, tablets and flat-panel TVs duty-free among member countries. Despite strong lobbying by the US, India refused to join the negotiations. “We are not in favour of joining ITA-II. The first version itself has not been very beneficial for us,” Ajay Kumar, joint secretary in the Department of Electronics and IT (Deity) reported told ET. He added that signing up in 1997 was a “also a mistake”.
Talks among the US, EU and 20 member countries of the World Trade Organisation to expand the list of products that can be traded tariff-free was halted a few weeks ago. The negotiations are expected to restart in September 2013.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
