US will continue partnering with India to promote transparent, rules-based trading system: Biden admin

Washington, Mar 2 (PTI) The United States will continue to partner with India to tackle shared challenges, build resilient supply chains, and promote a transparent and rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies, the Biden Administration said Wednesday.

The United States and India share a dynamic and important trade and investment relationship, the US Trade Representative said in its President’s 2023 Trade Policy Agenda.

In 2021, the two countries relaunched the Trade Policy Forum (TPF), which had not met since 2017, it said, adding that India and the US convened the 13th meeting of the TPF in Washington in January last year.

“Our governments discussed the tremendous potential for growth between our economies and how we can work together to bring a positive impact to working people in both countries,” it said.

“The United States will continue to partner with India to tackle shared challenges, build resilient supply chains, and promote a transparent, rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies,” the USTR said in its India section of the report.

According to the USTR, throughout 2022, the US engaged with India on an ongoing basis in response to specific concerns affecting the full range of the bilateral trade relationship.

Following the November 2021 re-launch of the TPF, the principal bilateral forum for discussing trade and investment issues affecting the two countries, 2022 was characterized by regular engagement through the TPF’s four technical-level workings groups — on agricultural goods, non-agricultural goods, services and investment, and IP, it said.

These TPF working groups, which include participation by senior-level officials from key U.S. agencies, provide an opportunity to achieve meaningful results and to address the general trend of increasingly trade-restrictive policies in India that continue to inhibit the potential of the trade relationship, the report said.

“A TPF Ministerial meeting was held on January 11, 2023. In addition to utilizing the TPF as a mechanism for resolving specific trade concerns, USTR continues to stress its interest in engaging with the Government of India on issues in the areas of labor, environment, digital trade, trade facilitation, and good regulatory practices, among others,” the USTR said.

It said the United States is leading on the world stage with a positive economic vision, and it is collaborating with partners that share their goals growing the middle class, redressing inequality, and incentivizing climate and environmental action.

“The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity are top priorities for the Administration in 2023 to implement this vision, as well as our initiatives with Kenya and Taiwan,” it said.