Key facts
- India disputes US claims of surplus capacity in its textile and steel sectors.
- Director General of Trade Remedies Amitabh Kumar stated India's per capita consumption of these products is low.
- The US initiated a Section 301 investigation into India's manufacturing policies regarding excess capacity.
- India submitted a rejection of the US allegations, citing a lack of credible rationale.
India has formally contested claims made by the United States regarding surplus manufacturing capacity in its textile and steel industries. Amitabh Kumar, additional secretary and Director General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), asserted that India does not possess overcapacity in these sectors, citing the country's "abysmal" per capita consumption of textile products and "low" per capita consumption of steel relative to its population and economic growth imperatives.
Kumar's statements come in response to a Section 301 investigation launched by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in March. This investigation examines the policies and practices of several economies, including India, concerning structural excess capacity and manufacturing production. India, in its submission, rejected these allegations, arguing that the USTR's notice failed to provide a credible rationale to support its claims that India's major industries suffer from structural excess capacity that contributes to a trade surplus with the US.