• The 14th ministerial-level meeting of the India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) was held in New Delhi on January 12. It was co-chaired by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

• Both sides discussed a range of issues pertaining to visa, critical minerals, restoration of export benefits under GSP, and ways to promote trade in pharma and marine goods. 

• They noted that the movement of professional and skilled workers, students, investors, and business visitors between the countries contributes immensely to enhancing the bilateral economic and technological partnership. 

• They also appreciated the strong momentum in the India-US bilateral trade in goods and services which continued to rise and has likely surpassed $200 billion in calendar year 2023 despite the challenging global trade environment. 

What is the role of USTR?

• The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) is responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade, commodity, and direct investment policy, and overseeing negotiations with other countries. 

• The head of USTR is the US Trade Representative, a Cabinet member who serves as the President’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade issues.

• USTR is part of the Executive Office of the President. Through an interagency structure, USTR coordinates trade policy, resolves disagreements, and frames issues for presidential decision.

• Ambassador Katherine Tai was sworn in as the 19th USTR in March 2021.

Highlights of the meeting:

• The ministers committed to pursue foundation to launch future joint initiatives in certain areas, including critical minerals, customs and trade facilitation, supply chains, and trade in high tech products, in which the US and India will develop an ambitious and forward-looking roadmap for enhanced cooperation in order to achieve economically meaningful outcomes.

• They agreed to establish a Joint Facilitative Mechanism (JFM) to mitigate non-tariff barriers which would pursue mutual recognition of results from international laboratories and establish mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs), on a bilateral basis whenever possible. This would eliminate duplicative testing requirements and reduce compliance costs for trade in high-quality goods.

• The ministers acknowledged the ongoing discussions on a Social Security Totalisation Agreement and additional information provided by the Indian side to the US side as part of discussions. They also encouraged to fast-track the engagement for a future agreement. Social Security Totalisation Agreement is one of the key requests from the Indian side in the TPF which will significantly contribute towards enhancing services trade between countries and help Indian IT professionals who temporarily work in the US.

• Under the Resilient Trade Working Group which was launched during the 13th TPF, both sides deliberated further on the issue of India’s designation as a TAA Compliant country for which a formal discussion was initiated after the State Visit of the Prime Minister to the US in June 2023. Discussions under TAA would contribute towards supply chain integration for India and the US.

• India also emphasized the need to increase the number of inspections by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in India to reach the pre-pandemic level. It may be noted that the US is India’s top export market for pharma products. The exports to the US are growing at the rate of 6.7 per cent in the last five years. In the backdrop of pandemic, FDA had stopped conducting inspections and audits in India for a long period, and resumed later, which resulted in huge backlog impacting product approvals and unit approvals/renewal.

• Goyal highlighted challenges being faced by business visitors from India due to visa processing time periods and requested the US to augment processing.

• Goyal reiterated India’s interest in restoration of its beneficiary status under the US Generalised System of Preferences programme. Ambassador Tai noted that this could be considered, as warranted, in relation to the eligibility criteria determined by the US Congress.

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