India's Customs Duties On ICT Products – Violative Of WTO Commitments

On 17^th April, 2023, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body circulated the report of the Panel in dispute concerning customs duties imposed by India on certain Information and Technology products. The European Union, Japan and Taiwan challenged such duties as being violative of India's commitments under the GATT. It was alleged that India imposed duties in excess of its tariff commitments under the WTO Schedule of Concessions. The Panel found that the customs duties notified by India were in violation of its commitments.

The present dispute arose when European Union (EU), Japan and Taiwan challenged certain tariff measures imposed by India on certain Information and Communications Technology (ICT) products. The measures in issue were certain Customs Notifications through which customs duties rates were notified for 15 ICT products. In April 2019, the European Union sought consultations with India concerning such customs duties on ICT products, contending that they were