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Amidst the high-profile trade agreement negotiations going on between India and America on the global economic and strategic front, a very disturbing and shocking international news is coming out from Washington. In its latest report, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), America’s top trade body, has included India among the major economies of the world which, according to them, adopt ‘unfair and unfair trade practices’. On the basis of this very harsh and controversial assessment, the US Trade Agency has presented a huge proposal to the US administration to impose huge additional customs duty ranging from 10% to 12.5% directly on various goods and imports coming to America from the affected countries. With this move, speculations have intensified that US President Donald Trump will once again impose stringent trade restrictions and higher taxes on India.
Serious questions raised on India along with 54 countries regarding forced labor and alleged labor rules
US trade agency USTR has officially released the sensational results of nearly 60 in-depth investigations into business practices around the world under the famous ‘Section 301’ of the US law. In this US list, India has been blacklisted or identified as one of the 54 selected economies in the world which, according to the US government’s assessment, do not have adequate legal measures and safeguards in place in their country to effectively prevent or restrict the import of goods and raw materials allegedly manufactured using ‘forced labour’.
Suggestion of separate quota for textile and clothing trade, open warning of trade action
In this comprehensive report, USTR has also made an important suggestion to create a completely separate and special system for India’s strongest export sector i.e. international business of textiles and ready-made garments. Under this new proposed policy, only a certain and fixed quantity (quota) of textile products from selected identified economies of the world will be allowed to enter the US markets at a low ‘Section 301’ tariff rate, while heavy fines and taxes will be levied on imports exceeding the limit. The US agency has indicated in clear and strong terms that it fully intends to initiate appropriate and stringent punitive trade action against all identified countries, including India, very soon based on the outcome of these investigations.
This attitude of our most important trading partners is completely unacceptable: US Ambassador Jameson Greer
America’s top diplomat and ambassador Jameson Greer has issued a big statement taking a very tough stance on this diplomatic and economic dispute. “It is completely intolerable and unacceptable for our most important and strategic trading partners to fail to address this serious issue of forced labor and the import of goods made from bonded labor on the global stage,” Ambassador Greer said in an open statement. Taking the side of American industrialists, he said that this negligence of foreign governments creates a situation where American domestic workers and factories are helpless to compete with foreign goods on a very unequal and unfair playing field on the global level, causing huge damage to the American economy.
60 big economies of the whole world came under America’s target, there was panic from Europe to Asia.
According to the latest data and claims of USTR, there are about 60 major and developing economies of the world that have completely failed to ban the import and export of conflict goods produced with forced labor and to strictly enforce local labor laws. In this detailed global list released by America, apart from big countries like India and China, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Names of countries like Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK), Uruguay, Venezuela, Canada, Ecuador, European Union (EU), Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan and Vietnam. Due to which there is a huge disturbance in the global trade market all over the world.
Know what is this dangerous ‘Section 301’ and what rights the American administration gets under it.
According to experts who understand international trade, Section 301 is actually an extremely powerful and historic legal provision of the US Trade Act 1974. This law gives the United States Trade Representative (USTR) unlimited authority to unilaterally investigate all trade policies, practices, subsidies, and domestic actions of any foreign government that affect American interests. Its main objective is to find out whether the economic steps or policies taken by any other country are unfair, discriminatory to American companies or whether they are imposing any unnecessary financial burden or loss on the commercial and business interests of America. If USTR’s investigation concludes that a country has adopted practices that are extremely harmful to American commerce, this stringent law gives the US Administration and the President full legal authority to take corrective and punitive action against that country. These punitive measures may include suddenly imposing heavy customs duties (tariffs) on the products of the countries concerned, imposing stringent restrictions on their trade or banning their entry into the US markets.
