| Fact Sheet Office of the United States Trade Representative Washington, DC March 2, 2006 U.S.-India Economic Dialogue: U.S. and India Issue Joint Statement on TradePresident Bush and Indian Prime Minister Singh jointly issued a statement on trade today during the President’s visit to India. The joint statement reaffirms the increasingly close cooperation between the United States and India on international trade in both multilateral and bilateral fora. Multilateral. Whereas the United States and India once could find little common ground in multilateral trade negotiations, we are now working together in pursuit of a successful and ambitious global trade liberalizing agreement. • President Bush and Prime Minister Singh reaffirmed their shared commitment to completing the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA) before the end of 2006, and agreed to work in partnership to help achieve this outcome.• The Leaders agreed to meet the task with ambition, determination and a willingness to contribute to the outcome, and to keep the development dimension in focus. This is an important signal from India which both sides hope will be matched by others. • Recognizing the most immediate task of having a breakthrough in the negotiations, the leaders agreed on the need to have a substantial outcome in all three pillars of the agriculture negotiations (domestic support, export competition and market access); and significant improvements in market opportunities in manufacturing and services, including transparency of regulatory practices in services. • As evidenced by the discussions, including with the CEO forum, both sides agreed that Doha presents a once in a generation opportunity to create new market access opportunities that will benefit both our countries and contribute significantly to development, poverty reduction and global growth. Bilateral. The two leaders have also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade ties between the two countries. The U.S.-India trade relationship has grown substantially over the past five years – with total two-way trade in goods increasing from $14 billion to over $26 billion. However, potential trade and investment lows between our two dynamic, growing economies could be far greater. For more information on the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum, please see: http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2006/asset_upload_file830_9098.pdf |
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