U.S., India set three-year trade goal in talks

U.S., India set three-year trade goal in talks

   U.S. trade representative Rob Portman met with senior Indian officials and business community representatives this weekend as part of his trip around the globe to strengthen bilateral ties and promote a strong and ambitious result in the Doha Round negotiations, Portman's office said in a statement.

   Reuters reported Sunday that the United States and India have set a goal of doubling bilateral trade to more than $40 billion within three years.

   Portman attended the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum, an initiative launched in July during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington, as a way to strengthen the two countries' trade relationship.

   Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath and Portman co-chaired the Trade Policy Forum to encourage bilateral dialogue in the areas of tariff and non-tariff barriers on industrial products, agriculture, intellectual property rights protection, investment and services.

   On Friday, Portman left Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where he and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns participated in a meeting with West African cotton-producing countries, including Benin, Chad, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso.

   They discussed a U.S. proposal to eliminate export subsidies by 2010, provide deep cuts and ultimately eliminate trade-distorting domestic support, and deliver deep tariff cuts that would open new markets to African farmers.