Trade policy forum between India and the US in January is expected to discuss visa, agriculture, and GSP.
At the India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting in January, topics include resuming advantages under the American generalized system of preferences (GSP), encouraging agri-trade, and visa issues are anticipated to come up, according to an official.
Piyush Goyal, the minister of commerce and industry, will be meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai here.
During the two days of talks starting on January 13, 2024, both sides will talk on how to boost investments and trade between their two nations. According to the official, this will be the India-US TPF’s 14th ministerial-level meeting.
January 2023 saw the last meeting take place in Washington. India brought up the delay in the granting of business visas to Indian nationals at that discussion.
Regaining its recipient status under the US GSP program is something that New Delhi is likewise eager to see happen.
The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) with India was terminated by the former Trump administration in the United States in 2019. Under the GSP, qualifying developing nations can export goods to the US duty-free.
Introduced in 1976, the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) allowed duty-free access to the US market for about 1,900 Indian items in industries like engineering and chemicals.
The official added that both nations had mentioned at the previous TPF meeting how trade and professional travel by skilled laborers and business travelers strengthens bilateral economic and technological partnerships.
The proposed social security totalization deal might also come up at the conference, the person said.
An expatriate in either nation is exempt from paying into the social security systems of their host nation under a totalization agreement.
Many Indians would profit from it, especially those in the IT industry who work in America and pay social security taxes but do not receive any benefits from it.
In order to strengthen bilateral communication on a variety of topics that can improve the sustainability and resilience of the trade relationship, including trade facilitation, the two nations established a new working group on resilient trade during the 13th TPF summit.
TPF is a forum for resolving disputes pertaining to investment and trade between the two nations. Agriculture, Investment, Innovation and Creativity (intellectual property rights), Services, and Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers are its five emphasis groups.
India’s biggest trading partner is the United States. About 20% of India’s total goods exports go to the United States, which is also a major market for services like information technology.
From USD 120 billion in 2021–2022 to USD 129.4 billion in 2022–2023—the two countries’ bilateral trade has increased. In 2022–2023, the US sent $6 billion in foreign direct investment to India.
