WEF 2020: 'India, China should not be considered developing nations by WTO,' says Donald Trump at Davos

WEF Davos 2020: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that India and China should not be considered developing nations by World Trade Organisation (WTO). He made the remarks during a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2020 at Davos

Donald Trump has made similar comments before. He had said that these two Asian countries were "taking advantage" of the 'developing nation' tag at the WTO and he would no longer allow it.

In July last year, Trump had asked WTO to define how it designates the tag. He claims countries like India, China and Turkey get lenient treatment when it comes to global trade rules.

The US President had also empowered the US Trade Representative (USTR) to take punitive actions if advanced economies were found taking inappropriate benefits of the WTO loopholes. He had said in August that when India and China take advantage of the tag, it puts US in disadvantage. "They were taking advantage of us for years and years," Trump had said at a gathering in Pennsylvania. "We're not letting that happen anymore...Everybody is growing but us," he had said.

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.

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