EAM Jaishankar and USTR Tai discuss bilateral trade, exchange notes on global situation

Washington, Apr 12 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and discussed issues related to Indo-US bilateral trade and exchanged notes on the global situation.

Jaishankar met Tai a day after attending the Fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue here.

“Good to catch up with USTR @AmbassadorTai. Discussed our bilateral trade and exchanged notes on the global situation,” he tweeted.

In a joint statement after the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, India and the US said they have resolved to address specific trade concerns, expand bilateral trade, remove market access barriers, and improve ease of doing business.

It also said the two nations decided to put in place a framework to advance cooperation in Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) such as advanced communication technology, artificial intelligence, quantum science, STEM, semi-conductors and biotechnology.

Earlier this month, Ambassador Tai, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, described India as an important trading and strategic partner of the US.

At the same time, she said that despite some sharp differences, the two countries have agreed to work together on various issues, including the market access commitments.

In the financial year 2021, the US exported over USD 1.6 billion of agricultural products to India. The total bilateral trade stood at USD 80.5 billion in 2020-21 as against USD 88.9 billion in 2019-20.

India’s exports to the US stood at USD 51.62 billion in 2020-21 as against USD 53 billion in 2019-20. India’s imports from the US stood at USD 28.9 billion in 2020-21 as against USD 35.9 billion in 2019-20, according to India’s commerce ministry data.

PTI AKJ AKJ