Senior officials of India and the US will soon meet to address concerns of both the sides, including issues related with visa, continuation
of certain concession for exports, duty on steel and aluminium, and prices of certain medical devices.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was in Washington earlier this week, said he held discussions with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative Robert lighthizer to find out ways to enhance trade and investments between the two countries.
He said the meeting was significantly important in the backdrop of the fact that the US was not even ready to talk on trade related issues with its close trading partners like Canada.
“On the day of (my) visit, US President Donald Trump made a statement about G7... In that backdrop the meeting took place. Meeting with the USTR went very well. We made substantive progress on trade and investment issues. (Now) officers’ meeting will take place very soon to discuss all pending issues. We have agreed to work on resolution of various issues and address the concerns of either side,” Prabhu told reporters here.
He said the meeting of the officers might take place by the end of this month.
India has time and again raised concerns over negative impact of tightening of visa norms by the US on Indian IT sector. It has also asked America to continue extending duty free access under Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to its products such as chemicals and engineering.