US drops India from developing nations list barring trade benefits

The US Trade Representative(USTR) has released a list of countries designating WTO members that are eligible for subsidy in which India andseveral other countries have been barred from getting special preferences under the US countervailing duty (CVD) law.

According to the list, 44 countries were categorised as "least-developed countries and 35 countries as developing countries".

"For purposes of US CVD law, the USTR therefore considers countries with a share of 0.5% or more of world trade to be developed countries,"the USTR said in a notice. Hong Kong, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa were also eliminated from the list.

"The US Trade Representative, therefore, considers countries with a share of 0.5 per cent or more of world trade to be developed countries. Thus, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam are ineligible for the 2per cent de minimis standard," the notice read.

The final rule will become effective February 10, 2020, it announced.

Similar to the 1998 rule, the US Trade Representative relied on the World Bank threshold separating "high income" countries from those with lower per capita GNIs. This means that WTO Members with a per capita GNI below $12,375 were treated as eligible for the 2 per cent de minimis standard, it said.

The agency categorised Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Cambodia among others as "Least-Developed Countries" with Maldives, Sri Lanka, Venezuela among others designated as "Developing Countries".