NEW DELHI
\nIndia will defer an import licence requirement for laptops and tablets, two government officials said, a policy U-turn after industry and the U.S. government complained about the move, which could hit Apple (AAPL.O), Samsung (005930.KS) and others.
\nThe plan will be delayed by a year, after which the government will consider whether to implement a licensing regime or not, one of the officials told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
\nThe licensing regime, announced abruptly on Aug. 3, aimed to \u201censure trusted hardware and systems\u201d enter India, reduce dependence on imports, boost local manufacturing and in part address the country\u2019s trade imbalance with China.
\nBut following industry objections, the initial plan was quickly delayed by about three months. Last month U.S. trade chief Katherine Tai raised concerns with India over the move, which would also affect companies such as Dell (DELL.N) and HP (HPE.N).
\nIndia\u2019s electronics ministry is now proposing a simpler import registration process that is due to start in November, said the officials, who have direct knowledge of the discussions.
\nA representative for India\u2019s IT ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nThe new \u2018imports management system\u2019 will need companies to obtain \u2018registration certificates\u2019 for imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers, instead of licences proposed earlier by the Aug.3 order, one of the officials said.
\nThe ministry conveyed the proposal to industry officials in a meeting on Friday, they added.
\nIndia\u2019s electronics imports, including laptops, tablets and personal computers, stood at $19.7 billion in the April to June period, up 6.25% year-on-year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India will defer an import licence requirement for laptops and tablets, two government officials said, a policy U-turn after industry and the U.S. government complained about the move, which could hit Apple (AAPL.O), Samsung (005930.KS) and others. The plan will be delayed by a year, after which the government will consider whether to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-358065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n