India is ready to further cut import tariffs on industrial goods for using it as a strong bargaining point in World Trade Organisation negotiations, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
"I am ready to do that (cut industrial tariffs) in WTO, but if we do it unilaterally it is pocketed easily. I also want to see what I get in return," he said at the India Economic Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and World Economic Forum.
Nath said India has brought down tariffs considerably and the charge of protectionism against it was nothing more than a bogey by the US and EU. On the contrary, protection in EU and US was quite high in value-added products such as garments, which were of much greater interest to countries like India.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has himself committed to bring down tariffs to the Asean level, from 12.5 per cent at present.
On agriculture talks in WTO, Nath reiterated that India's subsistence farming was not trade and, hence, not negotiable. India's subsistence farmer cannot compete with subsidised farmer of the US or EU, he added.
Referring to India's reforms, Nath said the situation has considerably changed both at the central and state level. However, on issues like FDI in retail, the model has to be India specific and should not displace small traders.
He said even states have now started asking for reforms, including in the contentious labour sector.
On liberalisation of financial services, Nath said India would like the US and Europe to reciprocate since experience of Indian banks has not been goods in those markets.
