Trade Reforms Sought With India

A bipartisan group of more than 170 members of the House of Representatives has followed an alliance of business groups in calling for the White House to put more pressure on India to halt trade practices that they say threaten U.S. exports, jobs, and intellectual property. “Over the last year, Indian policymakers and courts have taken a series of actions designed to block imports by forcing local production of a wide range of manufactured goods,” the lawmakers said in a June 18 letter to President Barack Obama. The Indian government’s use of “compulsory licenses” and other actions to revoke patents held by U.S. drug manufacturers is of particular concern because “innovation and the protection of intellectual property are significant driving engines of the U.S. economy,” the lawmakers wrote. The Alliance for Fair Trade with India, a newly formed coalition of 14 business groups, voiced similar concerns in a letter to the President earlier last month.