US demand on scrapping ICT duties not feasible, says India

India has responded to US demands for removing 20% duties on imports of seven ICT products that also include high-end cell phones. While this would benefit US exporters, India asserts that the potential revenue loss of removing these duties will amount to around US$ 3.2 billion annually. This is much greater than the incentives to India under GSP of US$ 190 million in 2018.

Moreover, US accounted for just 2% of India’s imports of these products in FY 2018, so the scrapping of duty will benefit China and Hong Kong much more. According to sources, India is more willing to offer duty concessions on other ICT products that are of greater interest to the US.