NEW DELHI: Japan has filed a complaint before the World Trade Organisation (WTO), claiming that India has imposed higher-than-permitted duties on smartphones, base stations and circuit boards, besides their components.
The Japanese representatives at WTO, in their filing, have sought consultations with India, a first step to taking up a case before the dispute settlement court.
“The Government of India has continued to adjust the rates of various indirect taxes, including custom duties, in support of policies seeking to foster domestic production and value addition,” Japan’s complaint said.
It said that ever since India announced its ‘Make in India’ campaign in September 2014, it has “continuously and systematically raised import duties on a wide range of products in various sectors”.
Japan pointed out that India applied a 20 per cent tariff on mobile phones and base stations, and tariffs of 10 per cent, 15 per cent and 20 per cent on some other products, which have been named in the complaint.
India is already locked in a trade dispute with the US over its import duties on smartphones and other products. A US delegation led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had last week demanded that India lowers duties on a wide range of products including smartphones and ICT products.