Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 3 (ANI): Pankaj Chadha, Chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), on Wednesday sharply criticised the United States Trade Representative (USTR) report on India, calling Washington's latest tariff offensive a deliberate negotiating ploy timed to pressure New Delhi ahead of ongoing Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) talks.

Responding to the USTR report, Chadha expressed confidence that it would not withstand legal scrutiny.

'The Supreme Court has already declared it illegal. It will go to the Court of Appeal and then back to the Supreme Court, where it will be declared illegal again,' he said, dismissing the report as legally untenable.

Chadha questioned the very premise of the proposed trade deal under current conditions. 'So far, the US has no tariff against India other than Section 232. Then why would we sign a Bilateral Trade Agreement at 18 per cent, with conditions that demand duty-free access for their poultry feed, nuts, pistachios, and apples, while they slap an 18 per cent duty on my exports?' he asked pointedly. 'You cannot expect me to give them duty-free access and accept 18 per cent on what I sell them.'

He noted that the fresh pressure under Section 301 invoked just as the US negotiating team arrived in India for BTA discussions was no coincidence. 'This is a bargaining tactic, nothing more than that,' Chadha said bluntly.

Responding to forced labour allegations raised in the USTR report, Chadha was categorical in his denial. 'We reject this completely. There is absolutely no question of forced labour in India,' he stated.

On Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's recent remarks that India and the US would soon sign the first tranche of the BTA, Chadha urged caution. 'The US has fired a shot of 12.5 percent and now they want that to be the basis of BTA discussions. You cannot negotiate by pointing a gun at my head. This is not a fair way to hold negotiations,' he said, adding that he would watch developments closely while negotiations remain in the hands of the Commerce Minister and his team.

Broadening his concern to the UK trade front, Chadha revealed that India's recently concluded Free Trade Agreement with Britain remains unoperationalised over a steel dispute.

'The government has heard our concern that you cannot sign an FTA and then impose a 50 per cent duty on Indian steel. That should have been resolved during FTA negotiations. Imposing new duties after signing is simply not fair,' he said. 'The UK FTA will not be operationalised until this is sorted out.' (ANI)