US files WTO complaint against India over alcohol duties
Afp, Washington
The United States filed a complaint Friday at the World Trade Organization against India, saying its duties on alcoholic beverages and other imports violate global trade rules. The US action followed a similar complaint lodged by the European Union earlier this year at the Geneva-based WTO. "India is an important export market for US products and the United States and India have successfully worked on a number of important trade issues. However, we believe the layers of customs duties India applies to US products, in particular to wine and distilled spirits, are not in line with its WTO commitments," said US Trade Representative Susan Schwab in a statement "We are disappointed that WTO consultations failed to resolve our concern with the duties and that we must resort to a WTO panel. The United States will continue to work toward a resolution of this issue with India but we must ensure a level playing field for US products around the world." US officials said that India, on top of its basic customs tariffs, imposes an additional duty of 20 to 75 percent on the value of imports of beer and wine and from 25 to 150 percent on imports of distilled spirits.
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