By Manoj Kumar

NEW DELHI (Reuters] – India was invited to New Delhi by the United States to discuss expanding farm trade. They also relaunched their joint Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in order to settle differences over market access issues. This came as Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative ended a two day visit.

According to a joint statement by the countries, they agreed to increase trade in agricultural commodities. These include shipments of Indian mangoes to U.S. market and cherries to U.S. animal feed.

The meeting was convened following a four-year gap. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Tai chaired it. They directed their officials towards intensifying efforts to solve issues and to consider holding a ministerial conference next year.

Goyal stated in a tweet that “the forum heralds the new beginning in India/U.S.trade partnership”, following the meeting.

Washington and New Delhi have been at war for almost a full year on a variety of issues, including tariffs. This has made it difficult to conclude a bilateral trading package.

This meeting was held Tuesday following a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden, which took place in Washington in September. Both leaders had agreed to increase trade ties in order to strengthen their relations.

On Tuesday, the United States and India agreed to investigate India’s need for exporting grapes. New Delhi, however, would be open to imports of U.S. pork or pork products.

Tai was accompanied by Sarah Bianchi (Deputy U.S. trade Representative) in New Delhi. She raised earlier concerns about market access restrictions and high tariffs.

India is resisting the U.S. request to reduce tariffs. It argued that the tariffs applied were far below the WTO-restricted limit, and it wants more exports.

According to joint statements, bilateral goods trade between the countries increased by nearly half in the nine-months of the year. This was due to their economies opening up after being closed down during the pandemic. The total is projected to reach $100 billion.