Adopting a cautious tone on trade ties with the US, Commerce Minister, Suresh Prabhu, said when he meets the US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, he will try to sort out any “misgivings’’ that might have crept into India’s relationship with the Donald Trump regime.

Prabhu, who will be in Washington next week, reiterated that the US is an important trading partner for India and the bilateral relationship will have to been seen in the context of the overall position the Trump regime has taken with other trade partners such as the EU, Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.

“We are going to explain to the US our concerns. We are certainly not going to ignore it because of some issues we may have,” Prabhu told media persons.

While the US remains India’s largest export market with out-bound shipments growing 13 per cent to $47.88 billion last fiscal, Washington has needled India on a number of trade issues since US President Donald Trump came to power last year.

It imposed additional import duties on steel and aluminium from India, delayed extension of the generalised system of preferences offering duty-free/low duty market access to many Indian products and initiated a number of disputes with the country, including the latest one targeting export sops. On whether India would agree to the US demand of reducing import duties on Harley Davidson bikes to nil, as demanded by Trump, Prabhu said: “Every country has the right to ask for concessions in the area where they think they have an advantage. We too do it for sectors like gems and jewellery. We will give an appropriate response when required.”

RCEP talks

On the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Prabhu said India is holding separate talks with the members with which it does not have free trade pact, including China, Australia and New Zealand. The Minister added that a good deal in services should be integral to the RCEP agreement and India had given this message to all partners.

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