India Inc urges US Trade Representative to drop tariff plan on Indian goods

Indian industry bodies CII and Ficci have urged the US Trade Representative to drop plans for tariffs on Indian goods, submitting formal responses during the USTR's ongoing public hearing (July 7-9) on forced labour concerns. CII asked the USTR not to impose any tariff or non-tariff measures on Indian industry, while Ficci sought reconsideration of the proposed duties citing India's legal safeguards and compliance mechanisms. Both bodies argued there is no credible evidentiary basis linking Indian production to forced labour inputs and that uniform tariffs fail to distinguish compliant supply chains from high-risk ones.