Will counter non-tariff barriers: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday warned that India will not hesitate to use non-tariff barriers against those countries that resort to apply these tools, including unnecessary registration and compliance requirements or standards and levels of pesticides.

“I am going tough on other countries. I have told them very categorically that if you will impose these barriers on us, we will put two. This will be reciprocal,” he said at a meeting of Board of Trade (BoT), a platform where Centre, states and business come together. Urging businesses to flag these barriers, he said: “Today we face issues because we do not have data of their (other countries) non-tariff barriers.”

With textiles, food and other products facing repeated hurdles as countries have chosen to prescribe their own standards, often ignoring what international norms are, India has also resorted to use of some of the tools, bringing trade partners such as EU and the US on negotiating table.

The minister’s statement comes at a time when environmental standards are being pushed, with EU and UK now using carbon border tax to increase levies on imported steel and other metals. Government has argued these are non-tariff barriers, not allowed under global rules.

Goyal sought suggestions from the industry on steps to further ease life for business, cut down compliance and logistics costs, de-criminalisation of minor offences, and ways to attract investments.