Ways to increase trade, supply chain resilience to figure in India-US Commercial Dialogue

Issues such as ways to increase bilateral trade, cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, and promoting investments are expected to figure during the India-US Commercial Dialogue here on Friday, sources said.

Increasing cooperation among MSMEs of both countries, support in economic recovery, skilling and reskilling, supply chain resilience, and India's role in clean technology are also likely to come up in the discussions, they said.

India and the US will hold a commercial dialogue on March 10 after a gap of three years. The last India-USA Commercial Dialogue was held in February 2019. Since then, due to pandemic and other factors it could not be held.

It will be attended by US secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo and commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal. The commercial dialogue is a cooperative undertaking encompassing regular government-to-government meetings to be held in conjunction with private sector meetings, with an aim to facilitate trade, and maximize investment opportunities across a broad range of economic sectors.

India is the ninth largest trading partner for the US, while the US is India's largest trading partner and the largest export destination. In 2022, the bilateral trade in goods crossed USD 131 billion. Total trade in goods and services is expected to cross USD 180 billion.

The US is also the third biggest source of FDI for India, and the USA is one of the top five investment destinations for India.