India, China no longer 'developing nations', won't let them take 'advantage' from WTO: Trump
Washington, Aug 14: US President Donald Trump has said that India and China are no longer "developing nations" and were "taking advantage" of the tag from the WTO and asserted that he will not let it happen anymore.
Trump, championing his 'America First' policy, has been a vocal critic of India for levying "tremendously high" duties on US products and has described the country as a "tariff king".
The US and China are currently engaged in a bruising trade war after Trump imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing retaliated.
Earlier in July, Trump asked the World Trade Organisation to define how it designates developing-country status, a move apparently aimed at singling out countries like China, Turkey and India which are getting lenient treatment under the global trade rules.
In a memorandum, Trump had empowered the US Trade Representative (USTR) to start taking punitive actions if any advanced economies are inappropriately taking benefits of the WTO loopholes.
Addressing a gathering at Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump said India and China the two economic giants from Asia are no longer developing nations and as such they cannot taken the benefit from the WTO.
However, they are taking the advantage of a developing nation tag from the WTO, putting the US to disadvantage, he said.
"They (India and China) were taking advantage of us for years and years," Trump said.
The Geneva-based WTO is an intergovernmental organisation that regulates international trade between nations.
Under the global trade rules, developing countries claim entitlement to longer timeframe for the imposition of safeguards, generous transition periods, softer tariff cuts, procedural advantages for WTO disputes and the ability to avail themselves of certain export subsidies.
Trump expressed hope that the WTO will treat the US "fairly".
He said the WTO views certain countries like China and India as "they're growing".
"Well, they've grown," he said and warned that the US will not let such countries to take advantage of the WTO.
"We're not letting that happen anymore...Everybody is growing but us," he said.
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50 passengers from Karnataka stranded in conflict region arrived in New Delhi: CM office
Bengaluru (PTI): Fifty passengers from the state who were stranded in the Gulf region amid the ongoing West Asia conflict arrived in New Delhi early Friday morning after departing from Fujairah in the UAE, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's office said.
The protocol team (Karnataka govt) were at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi with breakfast, it said.
They were transported on a KSRP (Karnataka State Reserve Police) bus and two cars to domestic terminals for their onward travel to Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Hubballi, the CM office said in a statement.
Many were disgruntled and complained to the team that MEA did nothing, and it was only a local organisation that helped them with their tickets, etc., the statement claimed.
"Incidentally, we are the only state so far that is providing this assistance at the Delhi airport," it added.
