The Forum forTradeJustice is a network of organisations working in the area of globaltrade, including farmers’ associations,tradeunions, traders’ groups, health associations, environment groups, and activists.
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Forum for Trade Justice has raised concerns in the BTA
While talks on the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) remain stalled after the imposition of 50% duties, officials on both sides continue to engage. The Forum has flagged several sensitive areas that India must safeguard in ongoing and future trade negotiations with the US. These include intellectual property (IP) policies, digital-sector rules, industrial policy, investment priorities, financial stability, and energy independence.
“We fear that thesewillget compromised, even as theIndiangovernment declares ‘victory’ innothaving relented on agriculture and dairy issues. Meanwhile, even in agriculture, we still fear the opening ofIndia’s agriculture sector including the import of apple, wheat, maize, soya beans, as well as dairy and poultry sectors from theUS,” it said.
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Beyond tariffs, the Forum warned of possible US demands to alter India’s minimum support price (MSP) scheme, especially for rice and wheat. India could also be asked to permit genetically modified (GM) food products and feed imports, which the Forum said would have “large-scale and long-term disruptive impacts on both Indian farmers and India’s agrobiodiversity.”
On intellectual property, it cautioned thatIndiamaybe pushed to amend its patent laws to enable “evergreening” of pharmaceutical patents. “This would destroyIndia’s generic medicine industry, thereby resulting in a sharp increase in the cost of healthcare among the sick and poor,” it said.
Compulsory licensing flagged as risk
As done in the UK-India FTA, it is feared that the acceptance of ‘voluntary licensing’ as the ‘preferred’ mechanism will be a virtual death knell of ‘compulsory licensing’ of otherwise unaffordable medicine, urgently needed for public health emergencies. India’s effort to use foreign technologies for clean energy and other areas will also be compromised, through such ‘voluntary licensing’
In the digital arena,Indiamayhave to give a commitmentnotto impose taxes on exports ofUSdigital products. In addition, itmaybe required to allow unrestricted cross-border data flows and implement sharing of government public data withUSentities. These commitments would foreclose the possibility of generating revenue from the most vibrant economic sector, and also compromise, the Forum forTradeJustice said.
TheUSis likely to demand thatIndiaprovide firm commitment to purchase defence equipment, aircrafts, and energy products from it. TheUSalso wantsIndiato stop buying oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela; exit or weaken BRICS; and abandon efforts totradein local currencies that bypass theUSdollar.
In the current negotiations,India’s interestswillnotbe safeguarded by being subservient. Instead, theywillbe served by being resolute and firm and keeping our long-term economic prospects, developmental goals, and ecological security in mind, it said.