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US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal co-chaired the 14th India-US Trade Policy Forum on Friday where the two sides discussed ways to address concerns in a number of areas including non-tariff barriers in agriculture and manufacturing, delays in issuance of business visas, intellectual property rights, and a possible bilateral social security pact.
Tai raised the issue of India’s new import requirements for computers, tablets, and servers. ”Minister Goyal described India’s objectives, including those related to national security concerns, and Ambassador Tai expressed a willingness to collaborate with India on the shared objective of supply chain resilience in this sector,” per the joint statement released after the meet.
India conveyed its willingness to continue engaging on this issue with the United States and other interested stakeholders.
“Delighted to co-chair the 14th India-US Trade Policy Forum along with US Trade Representative & my friend Ambassador Tai,” Goyal tweeted after the meeting.
Tai is on a three-day visit to India and also scheduled to meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders on Saturday to discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s engagement and commitment to fostering closer ties between the two countries, per information shared by the USTR office earlier.
TPF is a platform to resolve trade and investment issues between the two countries and increase bilateral economic engagement. The five focus areas include agriculture, innovation and creativity (intellectual property rights), investment, services, tariffs and non-tariff barriers.
India’s agenda for the meeting included addressing non-tariff barriers for products such as table grapes, mangoes and pharmaceuticals. New Delhi also wants fast-tracking of business visas as the delay in issuance continues despite the matter being taken up with the US several times. A social security agreement, that would exempt short-term visa holders from contributing to social security, is also being pushed by the country.
Import authorisation
Tai, on the other hand, has been strongly pursuing the import authorisation mechanism put in place by India for PCs and tablets and is keen to know what the country intends to do in the future.
The US was India’s biggest trading partner in 2022-23 with bilateral trade rising 7.65 per cent to $128.55 billion from $119.5 billion in 2021-22.
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