The United States (US) has reinforced the need to keep the country as well as relevant stakeholders informed about India's plan on the import monitoring system for laptops, tablets, and select IT hardware beyond September 2024, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai said on Saturday.
“The point we are reinforcing with the government of India is to keep us informed. The more we know what to expect…the more effective your measures are going to be, the better off we are all going to be including the impact to the US and Indian economy. We know that there is a timeline India is moving on. We want to reinforce let’s be in good communication as you’re developing your plans so that we, the public, your partners have a sense of…what’s coming next,” Tai told reporters.
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The matter was discussed during the India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) that was co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai, who is currently in the national capital for the ministerial.
The forum aims to strengthen bilateral relations, resolve trade and investment issues, and identify further areas for engagement between both nations. The bilateral merchandise trade during April-October stood at $69.36 billion.
During the TPF ministerial, the US urged India to ensure that import management systems for laptops, PCs, and IT hardware put in place since November do not ‘restrict’ trade in the future. The government had earlier said that the system has been put into place till September 2024.
As far as the proposed social security agreement between both countries is concerned, Tai said that a lot of work will be done to review the social security scheme that has been shared by India.
The US had sought data regarding India’s social security schemes. Indian data pertaining to Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), National Pension System (NPS), and Employees’ State Insurance Corp. (ESIC) has already been shared with the US government.
Bilateral social security agreements ensure that social security-related contributions, typically in the form of insurance or pension, for temporary skilled workers are not made in both countries. In case of relocation to India, the pact can enable professionals to remit their accumulated contributions made in the foreign country.
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During the ministerial meeting, while India pushed hard for a social security pact to safeguard the interests of cross-border workers, the joint statement said that the ministers encouraged “further engagement in order to establish a stronger basis for a future agreement.”
“We received the information on the eve of the TPF. So what you see (in the joint statement text) reflects that we have the information and the ball is back in our court but it has just landed in our court. So, there is a lot more work to review what has been submitted, and we will continue this conversation,” Tai said.
The joint statement on Friday also said that both countries have identified a few mutually beneficial areas such as critical minerals, customs and trade facilitation, supply chains, and trade in high-tech products, where ‘an ambitious and forward-looking roadmap for enhanced cooperation’ will be developed.
With respect to that, Tai said that critical minerals are critical to a sustainable, resilient, economic industrial future for all. “Building these partnerships on the basis of strategic alignment and trust is going to be very important. The first step is undertaking a serious exploration to bring facts here to understand… in terms of the roadmap, exploration, establishing a common vocabulary, and then developing our tools and ideas from there,” she said.