India-US Trade Policy Forum meeting likely to be held next month

India and the United States (US) are gearing up for the annual Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting next month, where both sides hope to strengthen bilateral relations, resolve trade and investment issues and identify more areas for engagement, people aware of the matter said.

“The TPF meet was supposed to happen this month, but may take place in January,” one of the persons cited above said.

The India-US TPF will be co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai. Both the nations held the 13th ministerial-level meeting of the TPF in Washington in January. The India-US TPF was reconvened in November 2021 after a gap of four years.

The forum is crucial, considering that the US is India’s largest trade and export partner. Bilateral merchandise trade during April-October stood at $69.36 billion.
 

The meeting will also take place at a time when India and US’ relationship has reached new heights.

New Delhi and Washington had agreed on a truce over seven disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and are on the same page with respect to key policy areas.

The TPF is the premier bilateral forum for discussion and resolution of trade and investment issues between the US and India.

Although all trade disputes between the two countries have been amicably resolved, TPF is much needed today with rising protectionism and geopolitical uncertainties posing new challenges, Ajay Sahai, director-general (DG) and chief executive officer (CEO), Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said.
 

“We should engage with the US on trade facilitation, labour, environment, and good regulatory practices as we march towards our goal of $2 trillion (goods and services) exports by 2030,” Sahai said.  
 

Under the TPF, there are working groups on five broad areas, including agriculture, non-agriculture goods, services, investment, and intellectual property. They address the issues of mutual concerns.

During the last ministerial meeting, both the countries had decided to create a working group on ‘resilient trade’ under the TPF. Here, both nations decided to initially focus on new-age trade issues such as environment protection, promotion of labour rights, and sustainable lifestyle.
 

Apart from that, they decided to discuss issues such as digitisation of customs procedures and strengthening the resilience of global supply chains in critical sectors, to help both nations withstand current and future global challenges.