India seeks to settle WTO import duty dispute with EU on ICT goods through free trade talks
Following a ruling of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) dispute panel on April 17 that import duties imposed by India on certain information and technology (ICT) products such as mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments violate global trading norms, India and the European Union (EU) are discussing ways to resolve the matter amicably outside the ambit of the WTO.
For India, cutting duties on these items would be difficult as the government is focusing on boosting domestic manufacturing of electronic goods to reduce imports. Image Courtesy: Reuters.