Meeting Of The Indian-US Trade Policy Forum(TPF)

The 14th Ministerial Meeting of the India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) is being held on 12 January 2023 in New Delhi. US Trade Representative Catherine Aye is on a three-day visit to India for this meeting. Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Catherine will co-chair the meeting. 
India's agenda for this meeting includes a number of key issues, some of which include a social security pact, US audit of Indian pharma players, etc. Other issues raised by India include visa delay, increasing exports of table grapes, pharma products and marine products such as wild fish and shrimp, and reinstatement of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status to India. Export control regulations for high-tech products and technology and more access for Indian mangoes to the American market, etc.
But the two issues that will dominate the meeting are the Social Security Agreement and the USFDA Drug Inspection in India.
Social Security or Totalization Agreement is one of India's demands. It said it would provide social security to Indian professionals working in the US. And under treaty provisions, dual social security deductions -- both in the home country and in the country where a person works -- will be eliminated.
Quoting this ruling, PTI said, it basically means that an expatriate of a country does not have to contribute to the social security scheme of the host country. If this deal is completed, technicians working in America will benefit.
The PTI agency also reported that India has already provided all necessary information to the above party in this regard. This includes data on various social security schemes such as Employees' Provident Fund, New Pension Scheme and Employees' State Insurance Corporation.
Another major topic of discussion in the meeting was the proposal to fast-track USFDA's inspection of Indian pharmaceutical companies. USFDA approval is essential for any company to sell drugs in the US. USFDA Under a standard procedure, American inspectors inspect drug manufacturing units to ensure drug quality.
According to the official quoted by PTI, India expects fast-tracking of these audits either digitally or physically.
Currently India's largest pharmaceutical export market is America. April-February 2022-2023, as of this period
 India's pharma exports to the US are $6.79 billion. Which is about 30% of India's global pharma sales.
The TPF platform is used by both sides to seek solutions to issues arising in India-US bilateral trade and investment matters. The TPF platform has five categories, namely Agriculture, Investment, Innovation, and Creative Services, and Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers.
Currently India's largest trading partner is America. America accounts for about 20% of India's total global merchandise exports. America is also a major market for Indian service sectors. India-US total bilateral trade volume to reach $129.4 billion by FY 2022-23. Bilateral trade was $120 billion in FY 2021-22. Also, FDI from the US to India has reached $6 billion in 2022-23.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India has decided to allow onion exports to Bangladesh and five other countries

As reported by a news media recently, India has decided to allow onion exports to Bangladesh and five other countries through government-to-government route on the recommendation of its Ministry of External Affairs. India is the second largest onion exporter in the world. But in December 2023, the government of India imposed a ban on onion shipments to control rising onion prices and ensure adequate availability in the market and extended it till March this year due to the upcoming national elections. India initially imposed a 40 percent tariff on onions to discourage its exports but when that move did not yield the desired results, it imposed a ban. A person familiar with the matter said that while no decision has been taken to lift the ban on onion exports outright, limited quantities of onion exports have been allowed for bilateral purposes. In addition to Bangladesh, five countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, Bahrain and Mauritius, said exports have been allowed. The Bangladesh gover...
Read more

Indonesia's state procurement agency BULOG has issued an international tender to buy about 300,000 metric tons of rice.

Indonesia's state procurement agency BULOG has issued an international tender to buy about 300,000 metric tons of rice, European traders said last Tuesday. International tenders are asking for 5% broken grade white rice. It should be available from the 2023/2024 crop year and milled no more than six months earlier. Tuesday, February 27, is the last date for registration to participate in the tender for these trading houses. The Indonesian government has allocated an additional rice import quota of 1.6 million metric tons for 2024. The latest import quota, which was above the previously approved 2 million tonnes for 2024, comes amid expectations that the country's January-March rice harvest will be lower than last year due to normal rainfall in Java - the country's main rice-growing region. A severe drought in Southeast Asia's most populous nation has reduced production of staple foods, driving up crop prices. As a result, the price of imports has to be increased. In suc...
Read more

Exports of leather goods from India will decline by 13-15 percent in the current fiscal

Chairman of the Indian Finished Leather Manufacturers and Exporters Association, K.R. Vijayan said exports of leather goods from India will decline by 13-15 per cent in the fiscal year 2023-24. But with strong winter demand for leather products in Europe, we expect a strong rebound of around 20 per cent in FY25 on account of new orders from there. Exports of finished leather were $4.87 billion in 2021-22, increasing to $5.26 billion in 2022-23, while exports in the current fiscal year 2023-24 till October were $2.81 billion, which is 13 percent lower than October of the previous fiscal. Considering the country's export growth potential and consumer base, we have set a target of $47.1 billion turnover in the footwear and leather industry by 2030, Vijayan said. Of which $33.4 billion is domestic industry turnover and the remaining $13.7 billion is export turnover. But we need innovation in both technology and advanced machines to achieve this goal. India is the second largest exporte...
Read more