India, on Tuesday, is expected to ask a World Trade Organisation dispute settlement panel to dismiss the United States’ complaint against New Delhi’s alleged discriminatory tariffs on imported wines and spirits on the ground that the Centre has already taken the appropriate measures, analysts said.

On July 3, the Indian government repealed the additional customs duties and the dispute should have been dropped once and for all. Subsequently, the European Union dropped the trade dispute with New Delhi on the ground that the Indian government chose to repeal the additional customs duty.

But the US, which is the other complainant to the dispute, has decided to drag its feet by insisting that the panel must deliver a ruling despite the recent repeal of the Indian measures.

Major defeat
New Delhi had earlier argued at the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement body meeting that it introduced appropriate changes in its tax regime, arguing that there is no legal or material basis to pursue the case.

Last month, the US suffered a major defeat when a WTO dispute settlement panel ruled against Washington for imposing burdensome bond requirements on the Indian shrimp exporters.The panel delivered a victory to Indian shrimp exporters when it ruled against the US customs bond imposed on shrimp exporters from India, Thailand and four other countries saying the US measure is not consistent with the trade body's anti-dumping and countervailing rules, Deccan Herald has learnt.

In a confidential interim ruling, the panel said customs bond imposed on imports of shrimp from India and Thailand — violates WTO anti-dumping rules as well as General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade. Because of the bond, Indian shrimp exporters had to incur prohibitive costs on their exports.