Describing the State of Ohio's ban on offshore outsourcing by government departments as ‘ill-advised', India has ‘firmly' conveyed to the U.S. its displeasure over the move and other protectionist measures such as the hike in visa fees for professionals.
“We have put it firmly in our discussions. I feel that the U.S. has seriously registered India's viewpoint as well as concerns of the Indian IT industry. We do hope there will be timely and appropriate responses,” Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here on Tuesday after his meeting with top U.S. officials, including Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
Mr. Sharma was here to attend the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meet, which is the principle trade dialogue platform between the U.S. and India.
Citing the example of the recent Airtel-IBM deal, Mr. Sharma turned the table on the U.S., stating, “Airtel, an Indian company, has placed orders of $3.5 billion on IBM. Isn't that outsourcing? Where would those jobs be created? Where (would) those jobs would be supported?”
The largest orders for Boeing aircraft had also been placed by India. “How many jobs would have been sustained and how many jobs would be created?,” he asked.
Referring to the ban on government offshore outsourcing, he said, “We hope that there is no other State which would follow the ill-advised and less informed path chosen by the Ohio state government.”
He said at a time when the global economy was reeling from the aftershocks of the economic crisis and was coming out of a recession, any inward-looking step of protectionism would slow down the pace of recovery.
“It is better to avoid it, particularly since the U.S. is the world leader, is the largest economy and, therefore, there are expectations (from it) in that context,” he said.
Under the Border Security law, the U.S. had in August hiked the fees for H-1B and L1 visas by at least $2,000 for the next five years. Indian professionals, particularly in the IT sector, use these visas for short-term contracts in the U.S., which account for about 60 per cent of Indian software exports of $50 billion.
The two sides also discussed the issue of a Totalisation Agreement, under which the Indians on short-term jobs would not have to pay the social security tax in the U.S. Since they do not stay there for long, they are not able to use the benefit of the social security in return for the taxes.
