US Open to Returning India to GSP; India Will Admit Alfalfa Hay and Cherry Imports

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal agreed to continue working to resolve outstanding trade issues "to reach convergence in the near future," according to a joint statement released Nov. 23 at the conclusion of the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in New Delhi. Both countries discussed wanting better treatment of their exports. "India highlighted its interest in restoration of its beneficiary status under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences program; the United States noted that this could be considered, as warranted, in relation to the eligibility criteria determined by the U.S. Congress."

One of the issues that triggered the Trump-era decision to push India out of participation in the GSP benefits program was India's price controls on U.S. medical devices, such as stents. "The U.S. side acknowledged the work being done by the Indian side to strike a balance between access to medical devices at affordable rates and the availability of cutting-edge medical technology," the joint statement said. "In this regard, the United States welcomed the recent application of the Trade Margin Rationalization (TMR) approach for price regulation on certain medical device products and India noted that wider application of TMR for other medical devices is under consideration by the relevant authorities."

Both countries talked about "potential targeted tariff reductions," the statement said. They committed to holding technical dialogues on animal health, plant health and food safety in 2022. They agreed they will finalize import facilitation for Indian mangoes and pomegranates, and for American alfalfa hay and cherries. "In addition, the U.S. agreed to work to complete India’s request for table grapes access to the United States, and India agreed to work to finalize the mutually agreed export certificate to allow the importation of U.S. pork and pork products," the statement said.

They also agreed to relaunch workshops to accelerate India's implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. The joint statement said TPF working groups have been told to develop plans of action for "specific trade outcomes" by March, and that those could be finalized in the middle of next year. The working groups cover agriculture, manufactured goods, services, investment and intellectual property. "The Ministers acknowledged the significance of creating resilient and secure supply chains. In this context, they agreed that India and the United States could, together with like-minded partners, take a leading role in developing secure supply chains in critical sectors of trade and technology," the statement said. "India also noted its interest in partnering with the U.S. and allies in developing a secure pharmaceutical manufacturing base for augmenting global supply chains."

Before India was removed from GSP in 2019, the program saved importers of GSP-eligible goods from India $300 million annually, according to GSP advocates; according to USTR, $5.6 billion of the program's $21.1 billion in imports were from India in 2018, and India was the top GSP country. Almost 12% of India's exports to the U.S. were covered by GSP.