WCA September 2012

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2012 65
From theamericas
largest companies also need to have employees on the
ground for “onshore” work. But rejection rates, which
were around ten per cent five years ago, are now as
high as 50 per cent, says Ajoyendra Mukherjee, executive
vice president and head of global human resources for
Tata, India’s largest IT services company.
Som Mittal, the president of the Indian IT services
industry’s trade organisation Nasscom, said: The high
rejection rates “add immensely to the uncertainty of our
business. We are never sure [whether] somebody will be
approved or not.”
❖ There is apparently a limit to Indian patience with
this kind of thing. According to Mr Einhorn, Indian
companies in greater numbers are considering such
alternatives as employing more American locals.
Tata hired 1,600 people in the US last year, up from
1,200 in 2010. Acknowledging the “inevitable” pressure
on visas, given the high rate of local unemployment,
Mr Staples of Mindtree predicted a decline in his reliance
on work visas. He said the company plans to hire
400 people at a new centre in Gainesville, Florida, and to
open more centres in the US.
“If visas become harder to get,” the Mindtree executive
told Mr Einhorn, “we have the ability to accelerate that.”
Trade
Winning some, losing some, the United States and China
go on airing their mutual grievances in the World Trade
Organization “China firmly opposes the abuse of trade
remedy measures and trade protectionism.”
This statement, by China’s Ministry of Commerce,
accompanied a complaint at the World Trade Organization
against US import duties on 22 Chinese products that
the United States says are unfairly priced or subsidised,
including steel products, wind towers, and solar panels.
The complaint – filed 26th May and encompassing other
products, as well – covers exports to the US worth
$7.3 billion, the Ministry said.
The Chinese action was a clear counterstrike. Eight days
before, the US Commerce Department had set punitive
tariffs on solar panels that it accused Chinese exporters of
dumping on the American market.
In December 2010, the US launched a trade suit over
Chinese government grants to wind power manufacturers,
although it did not pursue the case.
Earlier that same year, the US imposed hefty anti-dumping
duties on Chinese steel pipe imports.