Though India has stood firm on tariff concessions in its trade stand-off with the US, civil society organisations have cautioned that the government must also resist pressure on laws and regulatory matters that could undermine policy autonomy in the long run.
“We congratulate the Indian government on this firm stand. However, we feel that what may be flying under the radar are a lot of systemic law and policy issues, of huge long term importance to India in terms of its economic interests and strategic autonomy,” Forum of Trade Justice said.
The Forum for Trade Justice is a network of organisations working in the area of global trade, including farmers’ associations, trade unions, traders’ groups, health associations, environment groups, and activists.
Forum for Trade Justice has raised concerns in the BTA
While talks on the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) remain stalled after the imposition of 50% duties, officials on both sides continue to engage. The Forum has flagged several sensitive areas that India must safeguard in ongoing and future trade negotiations with the US. These include intellectual property (IP) policies, digital-sector rules, industrial policy, investment priorities, financial stability, and energy independence.
“We fear that these will get compromised, even as the Indian government declares ‘victory’ in not having relented on agriculture and dairy issues. Meanwhile, even in agriculture, we still fear the opening of India’s agriculture sector including the import of apple, wheat, maize, soya beans, as well as dairy and poultry sectors from the US,” it said.
Beyond tariffs, the Forum warned of possible US demands to alter India’s minimum support price (MSP) scheme, especially for rice and wheat. India could also be asked to permit genetically modified (GM) food products and feed imports, which the Forum said would have “large-scale and long-term disruptive impacts on both Indian farmers and India’s agrobiodiversity.”
On intellectual property, it cautioned that India may be pushed to amend its patent laws to enable “evergreening” of pharmaceutical patents. “This would destroy India’s generic medicine industry, thereby resulting in a sharp increase in the cost of healthcare among the sick and poor,” it said.
Compulsory licensing flagged as risk
As done in the UK-India FTA, it is feared that the acceptance of ‘voluntary licensing’ as the ‘preferred’ mechanism will be a virtual death knell of ‘compulsory licensing’ of otherwise unaffordable medicine, urgently needed for public health emergencies. India’s effort to use foreign technologies for clean energy and other areas will also be compromised, through such ‘voluntary licensing’
In the digital arena, India may have to give a commitment not to impose taxes on exports of US digital products. In addition, it may be required to allow unrestricted cross-border data flows and implement sharing of government public data with US entities. These commitments would foreclose the possibility of generating revenue from the most vibrant economic sector, and also compromise, the Forum for Trade Justice said.
The US is likely to demand that India provide firm commitment to purchase defence equipment, aircrafts, and energy products from it. The US also wants India to stop buying oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela; exit or weaken BRICS; and abandon efforts to trade in local currencies that bypass the US dollar.
In the current negotiations, India’s interests will not be safeguarded by being subservient. Instead, they will be served by being resolute and firm and keeping our long-term economic prospects, developmental goals, and ecological security in mind, it said.
