INDIA-US TRADE POLICY FORUM (Syllabus GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: In New Delhi, India, the 14th Ministerial-level meeting of the India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) was recently convened.

India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF)

• About: The Trade Policy Forum (TPF) serves as a continual platform fostering engagement between India and the US, with a primary focus on enhancing bilateral trade and investment relations.
• Key Role of TPF: It functions as a premier forum, the Trade Policy Forum plays a crucial role in addressing and resolving trade and investment issues that arise between India and the United States.
• Focus: TPF is organized into five distinct focus groups, namely Agriculture, Investment, Innovation and Creativity (emphasizing intellectual property rights), Services, and Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers.
• Escalation in Bilateral Trade: The bilateral trade volume between the two nations experienced significant growth, reaching USD 119.5 billion in the fiscal year 2021-22, compared to USD 80.5 billion in the previous year (2020-21).
• FDI Statistics: India attracted a notable USD 55.61 billion in foreign direct investment from the United States during the period spanning April 2000 to June 2022.
• Multilateral Collaborations: Beyond the Trade Policy Forum, India and the US collaborate in various multilateral forums, including the QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue), I2U2 (India-Israel/ UAE-USA), and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework).