PTI New Delhi

Non-tariff barriers and "red tape" that slow market access should be dismantled with haste to boost India-US trade ties, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) said as the two sides are holding initial negotiations for a trade deal. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is in Washington to hold the talks with his American counterpart Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

India and the US agreed to begin negotiations for a trade deal following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Washington DC last month. "We wish both governments success in their negotiations, and urge both sides to leverage the trade relationship for shared growth," (USIBC) President Ambassador Atul Keshap said on Tuesday (Monday US time).

"Meaningful trade facilitation through a sweeping bilateral trade deal is long overdue, and would be instrumental in boosting the GDPs of both America and India and bind our two mighty economies closer together," he said. It is expected that a major focus of the trade negotiations will be on tariff. Trump's policy on "reciprocal tariff" for all trading partners of the US has stoked global concerns. For years, the US and Indian businesses have invested in each other's countries without a formal investment or trade framework, Keshap said.