After successful meetings in Jakarta, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia earlier this week, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis arrived in New Delhi, India late Wednesday night for two days of official talks. On Thursday, Ambassador Marantis spent much of the day meeting with Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar and his colleagues to discuss a range of bilateral trade and investment issues, including U.S. agricultural and telecommunications equipment exports to India. Secretary Khullar and Ambassador Marantis also discussed preparations for the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF), and high-level trade and investment dialogue scheduled for September in Washington, D.C. The TPF is aimed at further expanding job-creating opportunities in the U.S.-India relationship. The United States already is India's largest trading partner in goods and services and one of its largest foreign investors. Two-way merchandise trade grew 73 percent between 2004 and 2009, with U.S. exports reaching $16.4 billion. Leading U.S. exports to India in 2009 include machinery and aircraft.
After meeting with Khullar, Ambassador Marantis met with Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra to discuss Indian customs and tariff issues. He ended his day with the American Chamber of Commerce in India, where he was able to discuss the challenges and opportunities of doing business in India with U.S. company representatives.
