332-543
USITC Adds Half Day to India Trade Barriers Hearing
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will add an additional half day to its public hearing concerning a wide range of Indian policies that discriminate against U.S. trade and investment in that country.
The Commission's hearing in connection with its investigation Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the U.S. Economy now will begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 12, 2014. It will continue at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 13, 2014 - the original hearing date.
The hearing witness list (subject to change) is available at: http://www.usitc.gov/press_room/documents/thisweek/wl1_021014.pdf
The USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, is conducting the investigation at the request of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means. The Commission will deliver its report to the Committees by November 30, 2014.
The USITC received a very high number of requests to appear at the public hearing. To accommodate all requests, the Commission decided to add an additional half day to the hearing, originally scheduled to be completed in a single day.
WHAT: Extended USITC hearing, additional half day added - Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the U.S. Economy
WHEN: Hearing now will begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, February 12, 2014; hearing will continue at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 13, 2014
WHERE: Main Hearing Room, USITC Building (500 E Street SW, Washington, DC)
Additional information:
- Federal Register notice announcing the hearing extension
- Federal Register notice announcing the investigation's institution
- News Release announcing the investigation's institution
- Request letter from the Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, and the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate
India's Trade, Investment, And Industrial Policies Will Be Focus Of New USITC Investigation
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched an investigation to examine a wide range of Indian policies that discriminate against U.S. trade and investment.
The investigation, Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the U.S. Economy, was requested jointly by the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Ways and Means.
As requested, the USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will report on recent policies and measures in India that affect U.S. exports and investment and evaluate the effects of such barriers on U.S. firms and the U.S. economy.
In its examination, the USITC will enumerate restrictive trade and investment policies that India maintains or has recently adopted, determine which sectors of the U.S. economy are most affected by these policies, and describe the competitiveness of Indian firms in these sectors. The USITC will provide several case studies of U.S. firms or industries that have been particularly affected by India's restrictions.
As requested, the USITC will also perform a quantitative analysis of the effects of such measures. The USITC will survey a sample of U.S. firms to measure perceptions of India's policies and the impact of those policies on firms' strategies toward India. The survey results will complement the quantitative analysis of the effects of these policies on trade, investment, and the U.S. economy.
The USITC will deliver the report to the Committees by November 30, 2014.
The USITC will hold a public hearing in connection with the investigation on February 13, 2014. Requests to appear at the hearing should be filed no later than 5:15 p.m. on January 21, 2014, with the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20436. For further information, call 202-205-2000.
The USITC also welcomes written submission for the record. Written submissions should be addressed to the Secretary of the Commission at the above address and should be submitted at the earliest practical date, but no later than 5:15 p.m. on April 11, 2014. All written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be available for public inspection.
Further information on the scope of the investigation and appropriate submissions is available in the USITC's notice of investigation, dated August 29, 2013, which can be obtained from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or by contacting the Office of the Secretary at the above address or at 202-205-2000.
USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representatives, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commissions' objective findings and independent analyses on the subject investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigations reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.
U.S. Exports to and Investment in India Would be Significantly Higher Without Barriers, Says USITC
U.S. exports to and investment in India would be significantly higher if not for Indian policy barriers, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its report Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the U.S. Economy.
The USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, prepared the report at the request of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.
As requested, the report provides information on the effects of a wide range of Indian policies that limit U.S. exports to and investment in India. These policy measures include tariffs and customs procedures, foreign direct investment restrictions, local-content requirements, treatment of intellectual property, taxes and financial regulations, regulatory uncertainty, and other nontariff measures, such as unclear legal liability, price controls, and sanitary and phytosanitary standards.
The report features the results of a USITC survey of U.S. firms in selected industries that are currently doing business in India, a quantitative analysis (using economic modeling) of the effects of Indian policy measures on U.S. workers and the U.S. economy, and qualitative research into these effects. It also includes case studies and examples illustrating ways that the policies affect particular companies or industries. Highlights follow.
- The share of U.S. companies substantially adversely affected by restrictive Indian policies rose from 18.8 percent to 26.1 percent between 2007 and 2013. Shares for individual sectors in 2013 ranged from 7.7 percent to 44.1 percent. [Read More]
- Over 60 percent of the affected companies have made strategic changes in response to these barriers, most often directing fewer resources to the Indian market. [Read More]
- Policies in two areas – tariffs and customs procedures, and taxes and financial regulations – have the heaviest effects on U.S. companies. Other issues, including investment and intellectual property policies, have large negative effects on specific industries. [Read More]
- If tariff and investment restrictions were fully eliminated and standards of IP protection were made comparable to U.S. and Western European levels, Commission model results indicate that U.S. exports to India would rise by two-thirds, and U.S. investment in India would roughly double. [ReadMore]
- Seven case studies highlight the effects of particular policies on selected U.S. companies or industries. They describe:
- the effects of certain duties on the wine and spirits industry;
- the effects of recent patent decisions on the pharmaceutical industry;
- the need to find new strategies to combat piracy in the content and media sector;
- barriers to expanding local manufacturing in information and communication technology, which increase the costs for U.S. companies to access the Indian government procurement market;
- changes in business practices in response to restrictions on e-commerce;
- recent policies that have constrained U.S. exports of certain medical devices; and
- deterioration in the policy environment governing clinical research trials, which has led to a decline in clinical research activity in India.
Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the U.S. Economy (Investigation No. 332-543, USITC Publication 4501, December 2014) is available on the USITC's Internet site at http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4501.pdf.
USITC general factfinding investigations cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the USITC's objective findings and independent analyses on the subject investigated. The USITC makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding reports are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.