Joint statement on India - United States on Policy Forum
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, January 13, 2024: The 14th Ministerial-level meeting of the India-United
States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) was held in New Delhi, India on January 12, 2024.
Minister of Commerce and Industry, India, Piyush Goyal and U.S. Trade
Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai co-chaired the TPF meeting.
2. The Ministers underlined the significance of the TPF in forging robust bilateral
trade ties and in enhancing the overall economic relationship. They welcomed the
strong momentum in India-US bilateral trade in goods and services, which continued
to rise and likely surpassed $200 billion in calendar year 2023 despite a challenging
global trade environment. They acknowledged that considering the size of their
economies, significant potential remains unrealized and expressed their mutual
desire to further enhance engagement with the goal of continuing to increase and
diversify bilateral trade. In this regard, the Ministers underlined the significance of the
TPF in forging a robust economic relationship.
3. The Ministers took stock of the significant progress made in addressing concerns
impacting the bilateral trade relationship since the 13th TPF held in January 2023.
This was highlighted by the historic settlement of all seven longstanding trade
disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) between the two countries as well
as the understandings on market access related to products of significance to the
bilateral trade relationship. These outcomes were delivered in the context of the
historic state visit of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States in
June 2023 and subsequently during the visit of U.S. President Biden to India for the
G20 Summit in September 2023.
4. The Ministers agreed that their governments will pursue enhanced engagement
leading to mutually beneficial outcomes in several areas, with a view to deepen the
trade relationship for the benefit of working people. They identified certain areas,
including critical minerals, customs and trade facilitation, supply chains, and trade in
high tech products, in which the United States and India will develop an ambitious
and forward looking roadmap for enhanced cooperation in order to achieve
economically meaningful outcomes. The Ministers committed to pursue these efforts
with a view to establish the foundation to launch future joint initiatives.
5. Ambassador Tai congratulated India on the successful completion and hosting of
the G20 Presidency and the G20 summit, which saw the unanimous adoption of the
G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. She welcomed the positive outcomes achieved
in the G20 Trade and Investment Working Group, and in particular the adoption of
the High Level Principles on Digitalization of Trade Documents. The Ministers agreed
to further pursue support for the implementation of these principles in other forums
so as to strengthen the pathways for digitalization of trade documents. The Ministers
emphasized that the G20 is a valuable platform for initiating constructive dialogue
and fostering cooperation among members on global trade issues and agreed to
work together in that regard. Progress on Bilateral Trade Concerns
6. The Ministers highlighted the work undertaken by the TPF Working Groups since
the 13th TPF Ministerial through regular high-level meetings. They expressed their
intent to continue to work together on resolving outstanding trade issues and
highlighted both progress and upcoming engagement on a select number of those
issues. Non-Agricultural Goods
7. The Ministers agreed to establish a pathway in which India and the United States
will mutually recognize results from accredited conformity assessment bodies
utilizing International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and International
Accreditation Forum (IAF) mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs), on a bilateral
basis whenever possible. This will allow labs and conformity assessment bodies to
certify that products are compliant with certain standards. This would eliminate
duplicative testing requirements and reduce compliance costs for trade in high-
quality goods. The Ministers committed to identify priority sectors of mutual interest
for implementation and establish a Joint Facilitative Mechanism (JFM) for the same,
the terms of reference of which will be finalized at the earliest.
8. 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). The collaboration between India and the United
States to expedite the TED demonstrations will confirm that the TED design
effectively minimizes the impact of commercial shrimp trawl operations on sea turtle
populations. The Ministers acknowledged that NOAA has scheduled its visit to India
for February 2024 to carry out field demonstrations with the newly designed TED and
conduct workshops for stakeholders. Both sides acknowledged that the timely
completion of the field demonstrations could contribute to the sustainable
management and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems, thereby fostering
enhanced seafood trade between the two countries.
9. The Ministers reiterated their commitment to ensure that technical regulations,
such as Quality Control Orders, do not create unnecessary barriers to trade by
providing sufficient opportunities for stakeholder consultations and ensuring that
relevant domestic standards align with international standards to the extent feasible.
10. The Ministers emphasized their mutual interest in furthering public health
discussions to ensure safe and effective medical products. India emphasized the
need to increase the number of inspections by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (U.S. FDA) in India to facilitate trade and continue to reduce the
backlog. The United States appreciated India’s remarks, noting that the U.S. FDA
has increased staffing to increase pharmaceutical inspections conducted by the
agency.
11. The Ministers acknowledged the ongoing discussions related to ensuring patient
access to affordable medical devices, including through the Trade Margin
Rationalization (TMR) approach. They also emphasized the importance of enhancing
engagement to address measures that could negatively impact the ongoing trade in
the sector, such as standards and pricing issues for medical devices, including for
cardiac stents and knee implants. The Ministers noted that this engagement would
facilitate access to cutting-edge medical technology for patients. The Ministers
shared concerns related to the overdependence and lack of diversity in Active
Pharmaceutical Ingredients within the global pharmaceutical supply chain and
welcomed the opportunity to collaborate to derisk and diversify with a focus on Key
Starting Materials.
12. Ambassador Tai raised the issue of India’s new import requirements for
computers, tablets, and servers. Minister Goyal described India’s objectives,
including those related to national security concerns, and Ambassador Tai expressed
a willingness to collaborate with India on the shared objective of supply chain
resilience in this sector. India conveyed its willingness to continue engaging on this
issue with the United States and other interested stakeholders. She further
welcomed that India has implemented the “import management system for specified
IT Hardware” in a facilitative manner that has thus far minimized the impact on trade
and urged India to ensure that the end-to-end online system currently in operation
and related policies do not restrict trade going forward.
13. Minister Goyal reiterated India’s interest in restoration of its beneficiary status
under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program. Ambassador Tai noted
that this could be considered, as warranted, in relation to the eligibility criteria
determined by the U.S. Congress.
14. The United States welcomed India’s decision to reduce the timeline for reaching
20 percent ethanol blending with petrol from 2030 to 2025 and for the launch of the
Global Biofuels Alliance as well as the India-U.S. Biofuels Task Force. They offered
to explore ways that the United States can supplement ethanol supply in India for
fuel blending in the event that stocks in India fall short of demand. Indian side noted
the United States’ request for cooperation in this regard. Intellectual Property
15. The Ministers appreciated the positive ongoing engagement on intellectual
property (IP) in the TPF IP Working Group and acknowledge the important role
protection and enforcement of IP plays in promoting innovation, bilateral trade, and
investment in IP-intensive industries. The United States welcomed India’s efforts to
modernize its patent system and registration processes across its IP offices,
particularly through recently proposed amendments to the patent rules which aim
towards streamlining compliance requirements and easing the process of patent
filing and granting. The Working Group also discussed a number of other issues,
including protection for geographical indications and trade secrets. Both sides
welcomed each other’s commitment to comply with the World Intellectual Property
Organization Copyright Treaty and World Intellectual Property Organization
Performance and Phonogram Treaty. The United States and India committed to
continuing to engage on IP matters concerning both sides. Agriculture
16. The Ministers acknowledged the pending work to be completed for early
finalization of market access for certain agricultural products of interest to both sides.
They also conveyed their interest in enhancing their ongoing dialogue on food and
agricultural trade issues in 2024 and to continue working to address outstanding
issues through the Agriculture Working Groups, as well as the relevant sub-groups,
utilizing science and risk-based principles. The Ministers welcomed the engagement
and information exchange on necessary regulations regarding import of animal feed
products, including alfalfa hay. Services
17. The Ministers acknowledged the constructive engagement of the Services
Working Group under the Trade Policy Forum. The Ministers emphasized that
bilateral cooperation on digital trade and services should support the growth of their
dynamic economies, while also addressing shared challenges and providing tangible
benefits for workers and small businesses.
18. The Ministers acknowledged the ongoing discussions on a Social Security
totalization agreement and receipt of additional information by the United States from
India. They also encouraged further engagement in order to establish a stronger
basis for a future agreement.
19. The Ministers exchanged views on the potential of digital trade to spur economic
growth and innovation. The Ministers discussed India’s new Digital Personal Data
Protection Act (DPDPA). Ambassador Tai appreciated India’s extensive consultations
and noted that India’s approach of enhancing data protection, privacy and security
while enabling connectivity will support further expansion of the bilateral digital trade.
Both Ministers expressed their desire to continue engaging as India begins to draft
rules for implementing the DPDPA.
20. The Ministers acknowledged the discussions on telemedicine services and
encouraged stakeholder engagement on both sides to create an enabling framework
for future collaboration in this area.
21. Ambassador Tai welcomed the positive amendments to the Direct Selling Rules
and appreciated India’s continued engagement on the issue.
22. Minister Goyal highlighted India’s leadership in further developing Digital Public
Infrastructure (DPI). Both sides recognized the potential of Digital Public
Infrastructure (DPI) approaches for enabling open and inclusive digital economies.
The Ministers expressed their interest in further collaborating to ensure that DPI is
utilized in a manner that ensures competitive markets and promotes inclusive
development, and includes appropriate safeguards to protect privacy, data security,
and intellectual property.
23. The Ministers acknowledged the role of professional services in catalyzing
bilateral trade between the two countries and noted that issues related to recognition
of professional qualifications and experience can facilitate services trade. In this
context, both sides agreed to continue discussions on promoting engagement in
these sectors.
24. The Ministers 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.
Minister Goyal highlighted challenges being faced by business visitors from India
due to visa processing time periods and requested the United States to augment
processing. Resilient Trade
25. The Ministers welcomed the continued engagement on the use of best practices
with respect to customs and trade facilitation, including continued collaboration on
issues related to the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement and adopting provisions on
digitalization of trade facilitation measures.
26. The Ministers reiterated their commitment towards policies that ensure
transparent regulatory practices, including online accessibility to information
regarding regulations and regulatory processes, and adequate time for public
consultations.
27. Minister Goyal conveyed India’s interest in being recognized as a Trade
Agreements Actdesignated country by the United States. The Ministers highlighted
the initiation in 2023 of discussions on issues related to bilateral government
procurement, such as transparency and procedural fairness, and welcomed plans for
further technical engagement between their officials.
28. The Ministers recognized the importance of eliminating forced labor in global
supply chains to promote resilient and sustainable trade and committed to work
together on issues pertaining to child and forced labor in global supply chains.
29. The Ministers appreciated the positive spirit of collaboration demonstrated by
both sides while resolving bilateral WTO disputes and in that spirit emphasized that
the TPF will continue to act as the key platform to discuss all outstanding trade
issues with the aim to both strengthen the bilateral economic partnership and to
address these issues bilaterally.
30. The Ministers concluded the meeting by directing the five TPF Working Groups
to reconvene quarterly, either in person or virtually, and identify specific trade
outcomes to ensure that the trade relationship continues on its positive trajectory.
They also instructed senior officials to hold an in person inter-sessional TPF meeting
by mid-2024 and plan to reconvene the TPF at the Ministerial level before the end of
2024.
