US grants India preferential trade

Mr Zoellick met Indian Commerce Minister Maran

By Jyotsna Singh in Delhi

The United States has granted preferential trade access to India in a move announced by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick who is Delhi.

Mr Zoellick said this would enable India to access trade worth about $540m and lead to improved bilateral trade.

After a round of talks with Indian Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran, Mr Zoellick told journalists that his country was likely to initiate the new trade move after his return to Washington next week.

Preferential access in trade will be given under the Generalised System of Preferences, which grants duty-free treatment to specified products imported from developing countries.

Seeking support

Mr Zoellick's visit to India is the first by a cabinet-level official from the Bush administration and also a first by a US trade representative in more than eight years.

More and more US goods are finding shelf space in India

Business leaders from both countries have attached great significance to the trip as the US is India's largest trading partner and accounts for more than a third of the country's total exports.

From Washington's point of view, the visit primarily aims to secure India's support for a new round of world trade talks, as part of America's ongoing efforts to secure a general agreement from developing nations over the issue.

India's role is considered crucial for building support from developing nations for further WTO talks.

WTO

Delhi's position is likely to become clear by Friday, when Mr Zoellick completes his consultations with key Indian officials including the Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha.

India objected to efforts to link trade with labour and social issues during the failed WTO summit in Seattle two years ago.

It has argued that this as a ploy by the developed world to put the developing nations at a disadvantage.

Most developing nations have accused the developed world of perpetuating a trade imbalance by not implementing agreements of the earlier Uruguay pact signed in 1994, which called for efforts to remove such imbalances.