The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged New Delhi to further open its economy and forge trade barriers, saying countries that have provided American companies access to their markets have seen great opportunity.
Speaking at the India Ideas Summit of US-India Business Council Wednesday, he added that America is welcome to dialogue on trade issues.
Pompeo said that countries that have allowed US firms to have a fair and reciprocal trade, have seen America open up to them.
The top American diplomat’s remarks have come amid trade-related frictions between the United States and several other countries, including Mexico, India and China.
US President Donald Trump has been pursuing his trade policies aggressively and imposed tariffs on China, taking a toll on billions of dollars of import of Chinese products.
The US media Friday reported that India could be his next target.
On Monday in a TV interview, Trump criticised India’s import tariff on high-end Harley Davidson motorcycles as “unacceptable”, though he acknowledged that his “good friend” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slashed the duty by half.
Previously, Trump announced his decision to terminate India’s designation as a beneficiary under the Generalised System of Preference trade programme, which allows duty-free entry for products in to the US, from June 5.
During his visit to India from June 24, Pompeo is to meet Prime Minister Modi and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, and would discuss trade in addition to strategic issues.
We remain open to dialogue, and hope that our friends in India will drop their trade barriers and trust in the competitiveness of their companies and businesses, he said at major his policy speech at USIBC.
He added that they would push for free flow of data across borders, not just to help American companies, but to protect data and secure consumers’ privacy, he said. Speaking of privacy, they are eager to help India establish secure communications networks including 5G.
The two countries have to make sure they have economic openness, he said, stressing that the Trump Administration is trying to take down financial barriers and and create open markets.
It needs to be a place where our partnership is one of true equals, not of domination. Based on my conversations in New Delhi last year, and in subsequent phone calls and meetings, I believe this is a deeply shared vision, Pompeo said, referring to his previous visit to India in September last year for the inaugural “2+2 dialogue”.
Pompeo said more than 500 American companies successfully operate in India and the US is a market of roughly 20 percent of India’s exports in both goods and services.
Pompeo added that India makes a perfect partner and is a great place for us to figure out how to grow our economies and get win-win solutions for both nations, he said, adding India’s free-market reforms unleashed innovation and entrepreneurship.
The secretary of state also talked about trade opportunities in the energy sector.
We’ve been blessed with abundant affordable energy right here in the United States, and we’re now out producing it at enormous levels, not just crude oil but natural gas as well, he added.
India by purchasing oil and gas from the US can have a fully diversified energy portfolio, relying on a responsible United States, he said, apparently referring to Iran with which the US is engaged in a bitter standoff after Trump abruptly withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement in May last year.
They want to complete the Westinghouse civil nuclear project, and deliver more American LNG and crude, he said, adding these steps will reduce India’s dependence on Iran and Venezuela.
Responding to a question from the audience after his address, Pompeo revealed that as a businessman, before he ran for Congress, he had spent some time in Chennai and Bangalore trying to sell products to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
He added that it was tough. India was still opening up, it was still figuring its way through, but there was a real value proposition there, and they did well, he said.
When I think about that, when I think about what businesses need when they go to invest in each other’s countries, they need stability, they need a set of rules that they can understand, they need to make sure that the efforts that we put forward together from the United States have sufficient bipartisanship, that they won’t be whipsawed, as they have elections here, he said.
Pompeo will go on a four-nation visit of the Indo-Pacific on June 24. Other than India, he will visit Sri Lanka, Japan and South Korea, concluding his tour on June 30.
Trump and Modi are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28-29.
