India will ask the US to ease norms for export of marine products in lieu of reducing import duty on its cult bike Harley Davidson, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Wednesday.

Internal negotiations to reduce import duty on Harley Davidson have already started with Nath writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard.

In April, the government had relaxed norms on the import of Euro III compliant motorcycles with engine capacity of 800 cc and above in return for allowing export of Indian mangoes to the US. India hopes to export more marine products to the US in return for cutting duties on the bike.

Nath will now hold talks with the Prime Minister on the issue of import duty reduction. "There will be talks," Nath said when asked what he intended to do after his letter to Singh.

Due to anti-dumping duty and strict quality norms in the US, India's export of marine products dropped 19.64 per cent during April-October to 268,254 tonnes from 333,834 tonnes a year ago.

During 2006-07, exports of these products to the US fell 21.60 per cent to 43,851 tonnes against 55,817 tonnes in the previous year. Number of marine product exporters to the US market also dropped to 80 from 107 in 2005-06.

Despite the agreement between India and the US, import of Harley Davidson is facing problems as only those products certified by an authorised national body are allowed to sell in India. In the US, there is no regulator which certifies automobile standards.

Under the current norms, imported bikes cost almost double the original price due to high import duty.