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US Commerce Secy Wilbur Ross to meet Goyal this week

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Press Trust of India New Delhi

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal are likely to meet on October 3 here to discuss trade and investment related issues, an official said.

The meeting assumes significance as India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade deal to boost two-way commerce.

The trade deal talks were recently held in Washington between Goyal and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

"The two ministers are expected to hold a bilateral meeting on October 3," the official said.

US President Donald Trump on September 24 had said that his country will soon have a trade deal with India to boost economic ties.

 

"I think, very soon, we will have a trade deal...We will have a larger deal down the road," he had told reporters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session and discussed bilateral ties.

The US has been pressuring India to lower duties on its products and address the trade gap. American firms have also raised concerns over data related issues.

India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), greater market access for its products from sectors, including agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.

On the other hand, the US wants greater market access for its farm and manufacturing products, dairy items and medical devices, and cut on import duties on some ICT products. The US has also raised concerns over high trade deficit with India.

In 2018-19, India's exports to the US stood at USD 52.4 billion, while imports were USD 35.5 billion. Trade deficit dipped from USD 21.3 billion in 2017-18 to USD 16.9 billion in 2018-19.

India received FDI worth USD 3.13 billion from the US in 2018-19 as compared to USD 2 billion in 2017-18.

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First Published: Sep 30 2019 | 7:30 PM IST

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