United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai will visit India from January 12 to 14 to co-chair the ministerial-level meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Tai is also scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during her visit.

The US Trade Representative will meet with civil society representatives, business leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s engagement and commitment to fostering close ties between the two countries. This would be the first trip to India by a senior Biden administration official this year.

During the 14th ministerial-level meeting of the US-India TPF, Tai and Goyal will “discuss a broad set of issues to enhance the resiliency of the trade relationship, including agriculture, industrial products, services, and the protection of intellectual property, among other topics,” a statement issued by the Office of the US Trade Representative said Friday. 

Last year, Goyal and Tai co-chaired the 13th ministerial-level meeting of India-US TPF in Washington DC. During his January 9-11 visit to the US last year, Goyal also met with CEOs, addressed the Indian community and held roundtable meetings with business leaders and think tanks in New York. Prior to that, the 12th meeting was held in New Delhi in 2021 after a gap of four years.

The Trade Policy Forum was established in 2010 and plays an important role in strengthening and expanding the bilateral economic and trade relationship. Under the leadership of Tai and Goyal, the Trade Policy Forum has helped remove trade barriers and facilitate cooperation on key issues, the statement said.

“The United States-India trade relationship continues to grow stronger and benefit both nations throughout the past year as Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal reached several milestone agreements that deliver crucial market access for American farmers and producers, and high quality products to Indian consumers,” it said.

These included a 70% reduction of the tariff on pecans, the removal of retaliatory tariffs on almonds, apples, chickpeas, lentils and walnuts, boric acid and diagnostic reagents, and commitments for additional tariff reductions on frozen turkey, frozen duck, as well as fresh, frozen, dried, and processed blueberries and cranberries. The US and India have also reached agreements to resolve all seven of their outstanding World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes.

(with inputs from PTI)

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