<p>“Protectionist policies are not acceptable,” Mukherjee told PTI after landing in New York where he stopped for a day to address the India Investment Forum.<br /><br />The minister is expected to take up the issue of protectionist measures by the US with top government officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We shall have to keep in view that if the world economy is to come out of the present crisis, then protectionism is not the answer,” Mukherjee said.<br /><br />Noting that the US protectionist policies could impact India’s software companies, the minister said the financial crisis would ease if “uninterrupted flow of goods and services and capital are allowed to take place”. <br /><br />Protectionist measures like Ohio state banning outsourcing of state IT contracts to companies in places like Bangalore had stirred a hornet’s nest in India. The move was preceded by Washington’s decision to hike fee for H-1B and L1 visas to fund a US border security fund. This had also invited strong criticism in India.<br /><br />Indian software exporters fear both these measures would hit the US$50 billion Indian IT industry which earn more than 50 per cent of its revenues from America.<br /><br />However late last month, Republicans in the US Senate successfully blocked the passage of an anti-offshoring bill that would have denied tax breaks to US companies which move jobs overseas.</p>
<p>“Protectionist policies are not acceptable,” Mukherjee told PTI after landing in New York where he stopped for a day to address the India Investment Forum.<br /><br />The minister is expected to take up the issue of protectionist measures by the US with top government officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We shall have to keep in view that if the world economy is to come out of the present crisis, then protectionism is not the answer,” Mukherjee said.<br /><br />Noting that the US protectionist policies could impact India’s software companies, the minister said the financial crisis would ease if “uninterrupted flow of goods and services and capital are allowed to take place”. <br /><br />Protectionist measures like Ohio state banning outsourcing of state IT contracts to companies in places like Bangalore had stirred a hornet’s nest in India. The move was preceded by Washington’s decision to hike fee for H-1B and L1 visas to fund a US border security fund. This had also invited strong criticism in India.<br /><br />Indian software exporters fear both these measures would hit the US$50 billion Indian IT industry which earn more than 50 per cent of its revenues from America.<br /><br />However late last month, Republicans in the US Senate successfully blocked the passage of an anti-offshoring bill that would have denied tax breaks to US companies which move jobs overseas.</p>
