India and the US discussed market access issues including India’s concern on raised import tariffs on steel and aluminium at the Indo-US Trade Policy Forum meeting on Tuesday.
The US side, led by Assistant US Trade Representative Mark Linscott, reiterated their demand of a greater balance in trade, which is currently in India’s favour. The US also talked about India’s intellectual property regime and its long-held demand that the country should relax its provisions on ever-greening of patents.
“The meeting was a detailed one and went on for several hours,” a government official told
New Delhi also pointed out the problems being faced by India’s IT companies operating in the US on account of the constant tightening of H1B visa norms.
It also said that the US should roll back the increase in import tariffs on steel and aluminium that was directed towards a handful of countries, including India. Last month, the US had imposed a 25 per cent levy on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium on a handful of countries including India and China, ostensibly to protect US national security and economic interests.
India’s imports from the US in the April-February FY18 period were valued at $23.34 billion which was 14.68 per cent higher than imports in the comparable period of the previous fiscal. The country’s exports to the US during the period was at $43.32 billion 13.34 per cent higher.