INDIA: USTR Tai To Co-Chair US-India Trade Forum

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai will travel to New Delhi, India, on Friday, January 12, to co-chair, with counterpart Piyush Goyal, the 14th Ministerial-level meeting of the United States-India Trade Policy Forum - a bilateral forum which was established in 2005 but lapsed during the Obama administration.

• An Indian official familiar with the talks told the Hindustani Times: “India wants the US to recognise it as a Trade Agreements Act (TAA)-designated country to further deepen ties between the two economies and boost trade and investment in an environment of mutual trust, which saw [in 2023] withdrawal of seven vexed disputes to benefit both partners."
• In India, Tai will also meet with India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
• Politico notes: "This week’s meeting is the third in three years, in a sign of more regular U.S.-India economic engagement."
• The forum comes shortly before the next ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation taking place in Abu Dhabi 26-29 February
• Politico notes that, at the WTO meeting, "frictions between the United States and India are expected to be on display... in areas ranging from agriculture to pharmaceuticals to e-commerce."