Trump administration's chief negotiator Brendan Lynch is arriving in India to hold talks on the India-US bilateral trade deal, which were impacted after the US imposed 50 per cent import tariffs on Indian goods.
The two-day trade policy forum was to be held on January 12 and 13.
The US on Tuesday again placed India on its 'priority watch list' stating that New Delhi remains one of the world's most challenging major economies with respect to protection and enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights.
The US wants India to recognise internationally accredited labs, harmonise labelling requirements and the validity period of test reports and certification with global practices, and eliminate retesting requirements.
After the government's online monitoring system for the import of electronic hardware items went live on November 1, inbound shipments of laptops and tablets slipped in November to a nine-month low at $225 million, contracting 17.15 per cent year-on-year. This decline was primarily driven by reduced imports from Singapore (down 43.7 per cent), Hong Kong (down 27.4 per cent), and China (down 14 per cent), according to the data released by the commerce department. China accounts for approximately 83 per cent of such imports.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and held a productive conversation with him on deepening bilateral defence cooperation, including in the co-production of defence articles, and exchanged perspectives on a variety of security issues.
The lawmakers from the US State of Washington have urged the Biden administration to help remove or reduce the tariffs on American apples imported to India as the country's fruit industry has incurred significant losses due to New Delhi's retaliatory measures. In a letter to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, all members of the House of Representatives from Washington State and other two senators said the tree fruit industry suffered losses due to India's retaliation to US tariffs. On average, 30 per cent of the apples, cherries, and pears produced in the Pacific Northwest are exported and India was once a strong market.
India has agreed to allow import of pork and pork products from the US as a part of a bilateral trade deal which will facilitate export of Indian mangoes and pomegranate to the US. The development comes months after the two governments renewed the India US Trade Policy Forum (TPF), after which both nations agreed to iron out thorny issues that included market access issues pertaining to the agriculture sector.
India and the US on Thursday said they are looking forward to the reconvening of the India-US Trade Policy Forum later this year to further enhance trade relationship and identify new areas for engagement.
These concrete steps should include measures to address any number of pressing concerns, including prohibitively high tariffs and discriminatory forced localization requirements that are blocking US exports of a wide range of products.
"The US-India economic partnership is the strongest it has ever been and trade has played a vital role in that development," United States Trade Representative Susan C Schwab said at a meeting.
Domestic exporters may soon start shipments of mangoes, such as 'Dasheri' and 'Langda', to the US as America will start accepting testing certificates of specified agencies of India, a senior government official said on Tuesday. India has not exported mangoes to the US for the last two years. The set protocol involves the arrival of the US phytosanitary inspector, who monitors the process, which is called pre-clearance operations before exports. They have not visited India during the summer of 2020 and 2021.
India and the United States on Wednesday agreed to fast-track technical negotiations for early conclusion of a Bilateral Investment Agreement during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
India's disappointment over recent 'protectionist' measures by the United States, including increase in visa fee for IT professionals and Ohio's ban on government outsourcing, will be raised at the high level ministerial meeting in Washington on Tuesday.
Indian industrialists would take up the outsourcing issue during the Indo-US Private Sector Advisory Group meeting in Washington on Tuesday, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Rajan Bharati Mittal said.
India on Tuesday said that several actions taken by the US with regard to offshore outsourcing and other trade issues are "not welcome at all".
Officials in the government, however, said India could only lodge a protest and not take legal action against the US.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and the US Trade Representative Ron Kirk would sign the India-US Trade Policy Forum Framework for cooperation on trade and investment in Washington on March 17.
On his maiden visit to New Delhi to attend the two-day informal ministerial meet on Doha round, Kirk told reporters in a teleconference that he would be back to New Delhi in just over a month for 'continued talks' relative to the Trade Policy Forum.
Kamal Nath said the meeting identified "some areas of concerns and interest" from both sides impacting two-way trade, like "the issue of setting up titanium plants for the aircraft sector.
A top Bush administration official has said that there is "tremendous potential" for the growth of US-India trade and hoped that the two countries would work together for a strong Doha Round Agreement.
As the US fights China on issues of intellectual property at the World Trade Organization, India asked Washington on Friday to address the issue of easy availability of pirated Indian films and music in the American market.
As mangoes from Indian orchards are ready for shipment to the US, Harley Davidson will soon cruise on Indian roads with the government relaxing emission norms for the American luxury bike.
Indian mangoes are all set to be shipped to the American market in the next few days after the United States decided to allow import of the delicious fruit.
India and the US on Sunday agreed to enhance their engagement on intellectual property rights, a vexed issue between the two countries.
India has a huge trade surplus with US - over $20 billion a year in the past five years.
Ease of biz issues to affect investments to India: US Ambassador.
India and US keen to strengthen trade ties, hold talks after 4 years.
India will welcome two trade missions in 2015 focused on meeting its infrastructure needs with US technology and services.
Dispute over IPR was a bone of contention in bilateral ties till a couple of months ago.
Direct contacts between Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi this month helped to end a deadlock that had prevented the WTO from implementing a $1 trillion package of reforms.
US said access to affordable health care entails a large number of factors from rates, logistics to insurance reforms.
India is not so keen to co-operate with the US on IPR related probe.
New Delhi has always maintained that its IPR regime is fully compliant with all international laws.
The prime minister and president stated their intention to expand defence co-operation to bolster national, regional and global security.
India has now moved up 1 position to 29th.
The 'Make in India' vision cannot survive in the long-term without concrete measures to build a concurrent 'Create in India' movement.
The council resisted intense pressure from the powerful manufacturing, pharma and other trade lobbies that have urged the Obama administration to enact punitive measures against India for a laundry list of alleged intellectual property and patent violations.
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