Parl panel ask India to revisit WTO Information Tech Agreement

New Delhi: A parliamentary committee has said India should look at the US coming out unilaterally from WTO obligations and resorting to tariffs to protect its domestic industry as an opportunity to negotiate favourable clauses under the plurilateral Information Technology Agreement (ITA) or even explore an exit.

The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has, in a report, blamed the agreement India signed in 1997 for a host of ills plaguing the IT and electronics sector, including a wide trade deficit and making Indian manufacturers uncompetitive to the benefit of more advanced economies.

The Committee has observed that India’s experience with the ITA has been “most discouraging”, which “almost wiped out the IT/Electronics industry” from India, while acknowledging its benefits to consumers in terms of reduced costs and access to technology.

While the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology told the Committee that India, as a participating member of the ITA under the WTO, cannot unilaterally withdraw, the panel has cited the example of the US to suggest that it seems “quite plausible” in the current scenario.

The Committee headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey called for free trade agreements at bilateral and multilateral levels between member countries in their mutual national interest.

“The trade scenario created by the unilateral announcement of 50 per cent tariffs on India and different increased tariffs on other countries of the world by the US present both a challenge and an opportunity for India.

The world trading order is changing fast and, therefore, India needs to undertake a proactive and well calibrated approach towards ITA,” the committee said.

The committee adopted its report last week and submitted it to the Lok Sabha Speaker. Parliament is expected to adopt it in the next session.