India and United States held the 13th Ministerial-level meeting of India – United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in Washington, which was chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai. During the important meeting, the Ministers underlined the significance of the TPF in forging robust bilateral trade ties and enhancing the bilateral economic relationship to benefit working people in both countries. They appreciated that bilateral trade in goods and services continued to rise rapidly and reached about $160 billion in 2021. While welcoming this increase, the Ministers recognized that for economies of their size, significant potential remains unfulfilled and expressed their mutual desire to further enhance engagement with the goal of continuing to increase and diversify bilateral trade. The Ministers highlighted the work undertaken through the TPF working groups since the 12th TPF Ministerial. They reiterated the importance to India and the United States of specific trade issues enumerated in the 2021 TPF Joint Statement and directed that work be maintained to advance those issues towards resolution, with regular stock-taking of progress by the Ministers and their senior officials.
United States welcomed India’s participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal fully support the IPEF initiative and believe that deepening economic engagement among partner countries is crucial for continued growth, peace, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and that the IPEF will bring tangible benefits to the region. The Ministers welcomed the results achieved at the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference and expressed their shared intention to continue to work constructively at the WTO, including on WTO Ministerial Decisions, to achieve tangible, realistic, and meaningful outcomes. Recalling the foundational principles of the WTO, they noted that WTO reform should build trust in the multilateral trading system and enable the WTO to better advance its foundational objectives and respond to the needs of all of our people.
Ambassador Tai welcomed India’s G20 Presidency and said the United States looks forward to working together in the Trade and Investment Working Group. She noted that the G20 can be a useful forum for initiating constructive dialogue and seeking to enhance coordination and cooperation among member countries on global trade issues. The Ministers welcomed the recent intensification of work among their officials aimed at finding mutually agreed solutions on outstanding WTO disputes between the two countries. They further directed officials to continue this engagement with the view of arriving at satisfactory outcomes in the coming months.
The Ministers expressed their intent to continue to work together on resolving outstanding trade issues and highlighted upcoming engagement on a select number of those issues. The United States appreciated India’s initial public consultation on the draft Drugs, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Act and India noted that comments and suggestions on the draft bill are being examined as per standard procedures for introduction in the parliament. The United States and India acknowledged the importance of continuing to engage on relevant rules and regulations going forward. The United States also welcomed India’s commitment to provide public notice and comment periods as it considers new quality control orders and ensure that the measures shall not be more trade restrictive than necessary in line with the WTO TBT Agreement. The Ministers welcomed the finalization of the Turtle Excluder Device (TED) design with the technical support of NOAA. The collaboration between India and the United States to expedite the TED trials will ensure that the TEDs are effective in minimizing the impact of fishing on sea-turtle populations. They highlighted that ongoing work to complete the TED trials in India will continue in early 2023. The United States welcomed the efforts to streamline regulations on certain electronic devices under Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE) and Compulsory Registration Order (CRO) in order to reduce the compliance burden and facilitate the ease of doing business. Both sides highlighted their interest in exchanging information on the use of international standards, conformity assessment procedures, and the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) in the electronics sector.
