Wine Institute asks for trade talks to cut India's excessive duties on U.S. wine

Wine Institute asks for trade talks to cut India's excessive duties on U.S. wines
by Chris Rauber

The Wine Institute, which represents more than 1,000 California wineries and related businesses, said Friday it strongly supports a request by U.S. trade representatives for World Trade Organization-sponsored talks to reduce what it called India's "prohibitive duties" on U.S. wines and distilled spirits.

The San Francisco-based wine industry trade association wants the WTO to set up dispute-settlement talks to resolve the disagreement. India, with a population of more than 1 billion people and a rapidly growing economy, is becoming an increasingly important market for international wines and spirits producers, including those from California and the United States. But producers complain that it imposes several layers of additional duties on imports of wine and distilled spirits beyond basic customs duties.

This results in total duties ranging from 150 percent to 550 percent, despite India's commitment to the WTO that its tariffs would not exceed 150 percent. "We have raised this issue with the government of India on several occasions over a number of years. We hope the matter can be successfully resolved in WTO consultations," Susan Schwab, the U.S. trade representative, said in a March 6 statement, according to published accounts.

Link to full article...