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India will press the US to speed up the qualification process for the country’s participation in the US government procurement market and intensify partnership in critical minerals at the bilateral meeting between US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal scheduled on Saturday, sources have said.
The US may take up the matter of import restrictions placed on laptops and computers by India, among other issues, as its industry is unhappy with the move, the source told businessline.
The two countries are also likely to discuss possible ending of their seventh WTO dispute on poultry products, after recently ending six on-going WTO disputes, another official said.
“Indian and US officials are discussing the process in which Indian companies can participate in the US government procurement market. India has to gain a TAA (Trade Agreements Act) equivalence from the US and the terms for that have to be agreed to. This important issue is likely to be on top of the agenda during the Indian Commerce & Industry Minister and USTR’s meet,” the source said.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, had discussed opening of US government procurement for Indian companies in his meeting with US President Joe Biden in June this year.
Being included amongst countries that qualify for participation in US government procurement is important for India as US federal spends are substantial, estimated at about an annual $665 billion in 2020, per US government estimates.
US seeks rollback
The USTR may take up industry’s disappointment with India’s decision to impose licensing restrictions on import of some electronic items including laptops, computers and tablets. While the implementation has been postponed until November 1, the US industry advocates for a reversal of the decision, citing it as contrary to WTO’s non-discrimination rules.
New Delhi had argued that the decision to allow imports of the restricted items through import licences has been taken to ensure that items that come into the country are compliant with India’s security requirements and don’t expose consumers to risk of information breach.
Biden and Modi had also agreed to work together to ensure that the two countries are well-supplied with the essential critical minerals needed to achieve climate, economic and strategic technology co-operation goals which will now be taken up by the two Ministers. “The two leaders, in their statement, had decided to speed up bilateral collaboration to secure resilient critical minerals supply chains through enhanced technical assistance and greater commercial co-operation, and exploration of additional joint frameworks. This will be pushed by India in the bilateral meeting,” the source said.
The writer’s trip is sponsored by the Ministry of commerce & industry
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