Will continue partnering with India to promote transparent, rules-based trading system: US

Joe Biden's administration said Wednesday that the United States will continue to work with India to address shared challenges, build resilient supply chains and promote a transparent and rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies.

According to the US President's Trade Policy Agenda 2023, the US and India have a dynamic and important trade and investment relationship. The two countries will restart the Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in 2021, which has not met since 2017, it said, adding that India and the US hosted the 13th TPF meeting in Washington last January.

"Our governments discussed the tremendous growth potential between our economies and how we can work together to have a positive impact on working people in both countries," the statement said. "The United States will continue to work with India to address shared challenges, build resilient supply chains, and promote a transparent, rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies," USTR said in its India section of the report.

According to the ÚSTR, throughout 2022, the US engaged in ongoing discussions with India in response to specific concerns affecting the full range of bilateral trade relations. Following the resumption of the TPF in November 2021, the main bilateral forum for discussing trade and investment issues affecting both countries, 2022 was characterized by the regular engagement of four TPF working groups at the technical level – for agricultural goods, non-agricultural goods. , services and investment and IP, he said.

These TPF working groups, which include the participation of senior officials from key US agencies, provide an opportunity to achieve meaningful results and address the general trend of increasingly restrictive policies in India that continue to hamper the potential of trade relations, the report said. "The TPF Ministerial Meeting was held on January 11, 2023. In addition to using the TPF as a mechanism to address specific trade issues, the USTR continues to emphasize its interest in working with the Government of India on labor, environmental, digital trade, trade facilitation, and good regulatory practices issuesa, among other things," stated ÚSTR. 

She said the United States is leading on the world stage with a positive economic vision, working with partners who share its goals of growing the middle class, addressing inequality, and incentivizing climate and environmental action. "The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the US Partnership for Economic Prosperity are top priorities for the administration in 2023 to realize this vision, as are our initiatives with Kenya and Taiwan," the statement said.