New Delhi, February 7 (IANS). Health industry leaders on Saturday welcomed the interim framework of the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US.
Under the interim framework, the US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent. The US will also remove tariffs on generic drugs as well as other sectors like gems and diamonds and aircraft parts.
Although complete details are not yet known, the India-US Interim Trade Deal Framework shows that India has got the “best deal” from the US compared to other countries.
Rajeev Nath, Forum Coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Devices (AIMED), said, “AIMED welcomes the India-US joint statement on trade barriers and clarifies that CDSCO import licenses for US devices are already granted sooner than for Indian manufacturers, while foreign companies face mandatory inspections.”
He further said, “The US leads in imports with Rs 14,000 crore, which is more than China’s Rs 12,000 crore, whereas last year our exports to the US were $ 750 million and imports were $ 1.6 billion. The US Food and Drug Administration’s preference for ACSA instead of NABL laboratory creates an imbalance. Indian MedTech Industry is facing problems due to Chinese WANA dumping, delay in EU certification, Japan’s Yen weakness and Indonesia “, as well as the barriers of CDSCO. We urge mutual fairness, so that trade is beneficial to promote innovation of both countries.”
Additionally, the agreement also states that India will also receive the results of negotiations with respect to generic drugs and ingredients based on the outcome of the US Section 232 investigation on pharmaceuticals and their ingredients.
Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, said, “It is important to strengthen the India-US pharmaceutical partnership, as the safety of medicines is part of national security. There is no tariff on generic medicines. As mentioned in the joint statement, pharmaceuticals (including generic medicines) in total are subject to investigation under US Section 232. This is in accordance with the approach adopted in all free trade agreements.”
–IANS
SHK/AS