India-US meet on January 11, trade impasse on agenda

New Delhi, January 8

India and the US will hold the next Trade Policy Forum (TPF) Ministerial meeting in Washington on January 11 to achieve a breakthrough in long-running trade issues, including the restoration of low-duty access to Rs 40,000 crore worth Indian goods, and faster visas for the movement of legal, nursing and scientific personnel.

A global economic slowdown this year and India’s slowing exports, which were recently red-flagged by the IMF, have lent urgency to the discussions.

The last TPF Ministerial meeting was held on November 23, 2021, after a gap of four years in New Delhi. The TPF was supposed to be a platform for continuous engagement between the two countries in the area of trade and to further bilateral trade and investment relations, but has been meeting fitfully due to lack of breakthrough in increasing trade.

The forthcoming meeting, on the basis of reports by several sectoral working groups, will also discuss cooperation with the US and other “like-minded partners” to develop secure supply chains in critical technologies, including cyberspace and semiconductors.