The Hindu : Drop trade barriers, U.S. tells India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 21, 2003

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Drop trade barriers, U.S. tells India

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI NOV. 20. The United States Under-Secretary of Commerce, Kenneth Juster, is optimistic of making progress with India in high technology cooperation, but does not set any deadline on when specific agreements could be reached.

Addressing a press conference after the second meeting of the India-U.S. High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) this evening, Mr. Juster said he had "fruitful discussions" with the Foreign Secretary, Kanwal Sibal.

Mr. Juster said he was pleased that a drop in Indian tariffs had led to an increase in the U.S. exports to this country. Underlining the need for expanding the potential of commercial ties between India and the U.S., he pointed to the huge trade relationship between Washington and Beijing.

At the press conference and at a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) this morning, Mr. Juster called on India to drop the trade barriers. Specifically, he called for better protection by India of patent rights.

On export controls relating to nuclear proliferation, the official said the U.S. favoured "catch all" controls; suggesting that India should license any components that could be used by another country for weapons of mass destruction programmes.

To a question whether the U.S. would help India in the Nuclear Suppliers Group in its desire to obtain technology for nuclear reactors, Mr. Juster said there were ways in which the U.S. could cooperate which would not violate Washington's international commitments, but did not provide details.

At the FICCI function, he categorically denied that there were any U.S. sanctions in force against India. Regretting the position India had taken at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on trade issues, he made a strong plea for New Delhi's full compliance with intellectual property rights, reduction in tariffs and taxes and simplification of complex customs procedures.

Addressing the FICCI meeting, Mr. Sibal, said there were "critical areas" in the India-U.S. technology transfer relationship, which New Delhi believed, had remained a "prisoner of the past." He, however, conceded that a broad range of controlled goods and technologies were now easily available to most importers in India.

Pointing out that over the past two years India and the U.S. had tried to pursue a long-term strategic partnership, Mr. Sibal claimed that one example of beneficial cooperation was "strong growth" in defence ties.

"The task is not easy, especially because our bilateral relationship exists in a broader international context and there are historical legacies to contend with. But, our two Governments have engaged in this task in a constructive, forward-looking and realistic manner.

"We are now well into the process of resolving these issues, consistent with our respective laws, national security and international obligations, but entirely in the spirit of the new relationship between our two countries," Mr. Sibal said.

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