Washington:
A Free Trade Agreement is the next frontier in the India-US relationship, the head of a major India-centric enterprise advocacy group has stated, stressing that it is not tenable for the two biggest economies of the world to not have a trade architecture in spot among them, although its path is riddled with “all kinds of obstacles”.
Nisha Desai Biswal, president of US-India Business Council and a former US diplomat, was speaking at a dinner hosted by Indiaspora.
“The time has come for us to get serious about where the next frontier is in US India ties. And neither for the United States, nor for India, is it tenable for two of the largest economies in the world to be outside of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and to not have a trade architecture in place between the two of them,” Nisha Desai Biswal, president of US India Business Council stated.
“We are starting to see real signals of interest from India to be able to explore that. So, I think the time has come to get serious. It’s not easy. It’s a path riddled with all kinds of obstacles,” she stated.
“I’ve heard it described to me that trade negotiations are a knife fight in a dark alley. It’s time for us to put down the knives, turn on the light, get down to business,” she stated in a lighter vein as she urged the potent group of Indian Americans to engage the two governments on the problem.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, whilst addressing the 4th Annual Leadership Summit of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Wednesday, stated that India and the US ought to engage in a a great deal larger way and New Delhi is prepared and prepared to expand the financial partnership with America.
He also named for setting an ambitious bilateral trade target of USD 1 trillion in the next 10 years.
On August 19, he stated that hopes of an India-US trade pact are off the table for now, with the Biden administration conveying to India that it is not interested in a no cost trade agreement.
According to the information of the commerce ministry, in 2020-21, the trade among the US and India dropped to USD 80.5 billion as compared to USD 88.9 billion in 2019-20.
India’s exports to the US are increasing swiftly and withdrawal of export incentives by the US below GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) has not impacted the country’s outbound shipments to America.
India is in search of exemption from higher duties imposed by the US on some steel and aluminium goods, resumption of export positive aspects to specific domestic goods below the GSP, and higher marketplace access for its goods from sectors such as agriculture, automobile, automobile elements and engineering.
On the other hand, the US desires higher marketplace access for its farm and manufacturing goods, dairy products and health-related devices, apart from reduce in import duties on some info and communication technologies goods.
In her short remarks on the occasion, Neera Tanden, senior advisor to President Joe Biden, stated it is essential to have Indian-Americans at the table, contributing, involved and engaged in assisting make choices.
“Because as many have said before now, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. So that is why your voices are so important. Why is it that your engagement is so important, why is your role here in everything you do is so important?,” she stated.
Former US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, stated the current profitable pay a visit to of Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows the new chapter in this crucial bilateral relationship.
“We can’t just let it coast. We’ve got to all now work on it. The president gave us the roadmap to follow in trade and health and climate and security and, and so much more. I’m actually pretty excited about the bilateral ties and even broader on Quadrilateral ties as well,” he stated.
Indian-American congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Dr Ami Bera also spoke on the occasion.
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