- The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has taken off India from the list of developing countries.
- Countries are eligible to claim benefits for preferential treatment with respect to Countervailing duties (CVDs) investigations in this list.
- USTR has now eliminated preferential treatment for India along with some other countries.
- This would make it easier for the US to impose countervailing duties (CVDs) on goods from India.
Reason for India’s removal
- According to USTR, India’s share in global trade was 2.1 % for exports and 2.6% for imports in 2017.
- India was also a G20 member which accounts for large shares of global economic output and trade.
- Further, being a part of G20 India can be classified as a developed country despite having a per capita GNI below $12,375.