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US President Donald Trump hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an official working visit in Washington DC, on Thursday (local time). During the two-day visit, India and the United States set an ambitious goal to double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the leaders resolved to expand trade and investment to make their citizens more prosperous, nations stronger, economies more innovative and supply chains more resilient. They resolved to deepen the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To this end, the leaders set a bold new goal for bilateral trade - "Mission 500" - aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030. Recognizing that this level of ambition would require new, fair-trade terms, the leaders announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall 2025. The leaders committed to designate senior representatives to advance these negotiations and to ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT. To advance this innovative, wide-ranging BTA, the US and India will take an integrated approach to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector, and will work towards increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepening supply chain integration. The leaders welcomed early steps to demonstrate a mutual commitment to address bilateral trade barriers. The United States welcomed India's recent measures to lower tariffs on U.S. products of interest in the areas of bourbon, motorcycles, ICT products and metals, as well as measures to enhance market access for U.S. agricultural products, like alfalfa hay and duck meat, and medical devices. India also expressed appreciation for US measures taken to enhance exports of Indian mangoes and pomegranates to the United States. Both sides also pledged to collaborate to enhance bilateral trade by increasing U.S. exports of industrial goods to India and Indian exports of labour-intensive manufactured products to the United States. The two sides will also work together to increase trade in agricultural goods, the statement read. Finally, the leaders committed to driving opportunities for US and Indian companies to make greenfield investments in high-value industries in each other's countries. In this regard, the leaders welcomed ongoing investments by Indian companies worth approximately USD 7.35 billion, such as those by Hindalco's Novelis in finished aluminium goods at their state-of-the-art facilities in Alabama and Kentucky; JSW in steel manufacturing operations at Texas and Ohio; Epsilon Advanced Materials in the manufacture of critical battery materials in North Carolina; and Jubilant Pharma in the manufacture of injectable in Washington. These investments support over 3,000 high-quality jobs for local families, added the statement. (ANI)
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