LIMITED TRADE PACT WITH US PHONE CALLS AWAY: GOYAL
Alimited trade pact with the US is only a few phone calls away and will solve the bilateral issues that have accumulated over the past few years, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the India Ideas Summit, organised by the US India Business Council, Goyal stressed that rather than wait for talks on a full Free Trade Agreement (FTA), India was willing to have an ‘early harvest trade deal’ that takes into account 50-100 export products and services.
‘Early harvest’ refers to a trade policy, in which both parties sign off on a set of deliverables. But Goyal also keenly batted for a more comprehensive trade deal as soon as possible. “The US and India need to sit down on the negotiating table. I don’t know if that can be done before the elections or post elections, but we need to work towards a more robust and enduring partnership in the form of an F TA , towards which India is willing to work with an open mind,” he said.
For that, India is willing to open “our hearts and our markets with a corresponding opportunity for Indian businesses in the US”, Goyal said. The minister also pitched India as the next manufacturing hub for tech innovations that UScompanies come up with, providing affordable products for the global market.
Assuring US businesses that ease of doing business remains a priority, Goyal said a Gis-based system that maps available land banks across six states, occupying a ‘few hundred thousand hectares of land’ will soon be launched on a pilot basis. A Google Earth view of the land parcel will be made available to investors.
A step -by-step reduction of import duties on high-value US agricultural products, trade margin policy for medical devices, and a promise to continue talks on cutting price restrictions on tech goods remains India’s basic proposal for trade talks with the US.