The Hindu : India to oppose reciprocal tariff elimination

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2003

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India to oppose reciprocal tariff elimination

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 2. India is all set to oppose any move to impose mandatory tariff elimination across-the-board on industrial products at the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting at Cancun (Mexico). Giving clear indications to this effect, the Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary, Rajeev Ratan Shah, declared today "We will resist imposition of across the board mandatory tariff elimination on industrial goods at the forthcoming ministerial rounds in WTO".

Addressing the 43rd annual convention of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), he said the country would press for less than reciprocal tariff reduction in comparison with developed countries. "Although the Doha mandate talks about less reciprocity in terms of tariff elimination, we will have to guard against being isolated," he said.

Holding out assurance to the domestic automotive industry of the Government support, he said the whole exercise of mandatory tariff elimination would be a detailed one and if at all tariffs were to be brought down to zero, that would be done in a phased manner. "Even if the tariffs on industrial goods comes down to zero, the process will take at least 15 years or so which will give the manufacturers here enough time to brace up," he said.

Mahindra and Mahindra Vice-Chairman and CII Chief, Anand Mahindra, said the Indian auto component industry had established itself in the overseas market also. In fact its defining moment has arrived and it would alter its future course forever. Meanwhile, K. V. Shetty, Managing Director, IP Rings, Chennai, and Raghu Mody, Chairman, Hindustan Composites, Mumbai, have been elected President and Vice-President of ACMA for 2003-04 respectively.

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