WASHINGTON, DC -The Indian government has announced plans to revisit and review its protectionist Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy, welcome news just days after the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing examining the nation’s emerging discriminatory trade practices. As highlighted by witnesses at the hearing, this unfair trade policy threatens U.S. trade relations with India and discourages the manufacture and export of U.S. goods by prohibiting the sale of products made in America.
India’s PMA policy for information and communications technology imposes local content requirements of up to 100 percent on procurements by the government of electronic goods. India planned to extend this controversial PMA policy to private sector entities as well, thus further jeopardizing the ability for U.S. and foreign companies to compete in India. In response to these concerns, the Indian government announced this week that it would suspend and further review this policy as it relates to the private sector.
Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry (R-NE) welcomed the announcement by India’s Prime Minister’s Office, stating, “I appreciate the Indian government has decided to take a look at these trade polices, particularly after the CMT Subcommittee held a hearing exposing these unfair practices. The Indian economy has grown and benefited in the past two decades because it opened its markets and embraced free trade. I am pleased India’s leaders are recognizing that both countries would be hurt by extending these unfair trade barriers. The power of American ideas and ingenuity are what powers our nation of builders to be the world’s economic leader. We must be vigilant in protecting U.S. job creators from these nefarious policies that have the potential to hurt American competitiveness overseas."
