India to block U.S. trade probes, ready for fight at WTO
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - India has decided to block investigations by the United States into its trade policies and patent laws, and prepare for a battle at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a move that could escalate already-strained tension between the two countries.
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The USTR (U.S. Trade Representative's Office) is holding public hearings for its annual report due in April. The report will provide details on nations denying protection of IP rights or fair market access to U.S. firms.
India is widely perceived in Washington as a serial trade offender, with U.S. firms unhappy about imports of everything from shrimp to steel pipes they say threaten jobs, as well as a lack of fair access to the Indian market for its goods.
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This month, Washington said it was filing its second case at the WTO over domestic content requirements in India's solar program, which aims to ease energy shortages in Asia's third-largest economy.
There are 14 past or current WTO cases between India and the United States, whose bilateral trade in goods measured $63.7 billion last year, not including the latest case
The USTR listed in a February 12 report markets in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad as being among the worst offenders globally for the sale of pirated software and counterfeit goods.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/us-india-trade-usa-idUSBREA1O0MH20140225