Indian PM is about to visit USA as a 3 day visit from 25th June, to effectively engage in mutually beneficial talks.
The US administration needs to recognize and address India’s concerns about American trade policy.
What are the concerns of India’s trade?
Key US concerns with India’s trade environment include the bilateral deficit and, by extension, trade barriers such as tariffs on goods and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
The desire for access to more H-1B visas, New Delhi is concerned with the inward orientation of the US under Trump.
India will focus on the US, absolving itself of any responsibility to make requisite policy changes which Washington believes rests on the shoulders of other nations.
How could India address the concerns?
India could address a number of US concerns by extending the application of good governance principles.
Each side should operate on more comprehensive knowledge and a greater appreciation of prevailing situations and trends.
the issue thus is not to have a general focus on trade policy, but to identify and direct efforts at particular items with high tariffs, or those non-tariff measures that are not yet subject to reform.
The demand from India’s growing middle class is slated to become the second-largest in the world within 10 years.
This increase would create significant opportunity for US trade and employment.
India’s concerns regarding US trade policies will need to be addressed to improve the possibility of mutually beneficial access to India’s markets.
What is the way forward?
To get better access to this growing demand, a larger focus has to be on regulatory coherence and cooperation, and conditions affecting investment.
This trade progress may be aimed at methods that range from soft legal results such as guidelines, to hard law such as tariff decreases in key products.
This could be facilitated by agreeing on innovative methods that combine flexibilities with discipline and provide relief in times of import surges, a concern reflected in both countries.
This would be needed more for results embodying hard law, rather than soft law.
India and the US could show significant results by establishing a common platform to address specific concerns in areas that require administrative solutions or better information flows between the two.
Focusing on possible solutions that are more within reach, while continuing efforts to address the major concerns, is more likely to create better opportunities and more win-win situations for both India and the US.
