Ambassador Marantis Opens 2010 U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis welcomed India’s Secretary of Commerce and Industry Rahul Khullar this morning at the start of the seventh session of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum, offering opening remarks to encourage a productive and cooperative meeting.

The U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum was established in 2005 to encourage continuing, high-level engagement on trade and investment issues between the United States and India with a view to resolving commercial disagreements as expeditiously as possible. The Forum covers wide-ranging areas of interest to firms and workers in both countries, including agriculture, investment, services, and tariff and non-tariff barriers. This week’s Forum will focus on unjustified import restrictions maintained on U.S. agricultural products, progress toward the opening of the Indian retail sector to foreign ownership, addressing trade-restrictive telecommunications regulations, local content requirements for solar projects, and compulsory licensing and other patent-related issues.

Ambassador Marantis delivers opening remarks at the 2010 U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum