India and the US on Monday reiterated commitment to further boost
bilateral trade and investments, as US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross met
commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu here.
However, a source told FE that contentious issues – including India’s
concern about the extra tariff levied on steel and aluminium supplies and
tightening of the US visa regime and the American demand for the removal
of control on stent prices and duties on ICT products by New Delhi, apart
from easier FDI rules for e-commerce and greater market access – didn’t
feature in discussion.
But one of the sources said such meetings are not the right platform for the
two sides to rake up critical issues; instead these are usually discussed in the
trade policy forum meetings, attended by the US Trade Representative’s
office.
Earlier in the day, after his meeting with finance minister Arun Jaitley, Ross
said: “Premature to talk about FDI in e-commerce; will discuss the issue with
Suresh Prabhu later.” The issue assumes significance amid apprehensions
that the draft e-commerce policy favours domestic players and does not
provide level-playing field for foreign investors, such as Amazon and
Walmart.
Ross is here to attend the 11th Trade Winds Business Forum and Mission
hosted by the US Department of Commerce. Representatives of over 100
American companies are visiting India as part of this programme, which
started on Monday.
“Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress during the year 2018,
with bilateral trade in Goods and Services registering a growth of 12.6% from
$ 126 billion in 2017 to $142 billion in 2018,” the commerce ministry said.
Source: The Financial Express, India Tuesday, 07 May 2019