Context
∙ The 14th Ministerial-level meeting of the India- United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) was held recently.
About
∙ The Ministers agreed to establish a Joint Facilitative Mechanism (JFM) to mitigate non-tariff barriers which would eliminate duplicative testing requirements and reduce compliance costs for trade in high-quality goods.
∙ USA is India’s top export market for shrimps. In this context, both the Ministers welcomed the finalization of the Turtle Excluder Device (TED) design developed with the technical support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
∙ TED is an effective device in minimizing the impact of fishing on sea-turtle population and would foster enhanced seafood trade between the two countries.
∙ India also emphasized the need to increase the number of inspections by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) in India to reach the pre-pandemic level. USA is India’s top export market for pharma products.
∙ The Indian side reiterated India’s interest in restoration of its beneficiary status under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program.
India- United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF)
∙ It is an arrangement between the two Governments to discuss trade and investment issues, established in 2005.
∙ The TPF is co-chaired by the Minister of Commerce & Industry,
Government of India and United States Trade Representative.
∙ The issues and concerns are discussed under five Focus Groups.
∙ The dialogue addresses a wide range of issues that will lead to initiatives in key sectors and create momentum for expanding bilateral trade.
∙ A Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) was formed in 2007 as an adjunct to TPF to provide the TPF with views and advice from non-government trade and investment experts.
India – USA Trade and Economic Relations
∙ In FY23, the bilateral trade between India and the US stood at a record US$ 128.78 billion as against US$ 119.48 billion in FY22.
∙ In FY23, India had a trade surplus of US$ 28.30 billion with the US.
∙ During 2022-23, the US was the third largest source of FDI into India.
∙ India-USA trade is likely to touch US$ 300 billion in 2026-27 from its current trade.
Dialogue Mechanisms:
∙ India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum (TPF).
∙ India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue: Focuses on cooperation in standards, ease of doing business, travel & tourism, and other important issues of commercial significance.
∙ India-U.S. CEO Forum: Established in 2005, the Forum meets on sidelines of the Commercial Dialogue and submits recommendations to the Commercial dialogue.
∙ Information and Communications Technology(ICT): A Joint Working Group on ICT was established in 2005 to bring together government and industry from both sides to discuss cooperation in the electronics & IT sector.
∙ India – U.S. Economic and Financial Partnership Dialogue (EFP): It is led by Finance Minister and the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
∙ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework [IPEF]: India joined the launch of IPEF in 2022 along with 13 Partner countries.
∙ India joined three of the four Pillars of IPEF, related to supply chains, tax and anti-corruption and clean energy.
Conclusion
∙ The evolving relationship between India and the United States holds significant importance in shaping the global order of the 21st century.
∙ To fully unlock the potential of this partnership, both governments must focus on reducing bilateral and multilateral bottlenecks and charting a course for a comprehensive and strategic global alliance.
