An Indian parliamentary panel yesterday urged the government to quickly conclude a proposed bilateral trade pact with the United States, while safeguarding domestic interests and securing stable, predictable market access for key exports.
The panel, which submitted its report to both houses of parliament, said the pact should cover sectors including generic medicines, critical minerals, smartphones, engineering goods, auto components, chemicals, textiles, marine products, leather goods, gems and jewellery.
Indian and US officials have said the long-awaited agreement could be signed soon. A US official said last month that negotiations were nearly complete and that the deal could be signed within three to four months.
The committee said US tariff measures had hurt labour-intensive industries, particularly gems and jewellery, textiles, marine products and leather, and urged bilateral talks to secure tariff parity with competitors including Switzerland, Canada and Mexico.
It also called for exemptions for major Indian products from future unexpected US tariff increases, and recommended a fast-response monitoring unit within the Directorate General of Foreign Trade to monitor US customs actions and regulatory changes.
The panel recommended targeted export credit, insurance, working-capital support and technical assistance for small businesses grappling with compliance and tariff-related disruptions.
It also called for deeper cooperation in semiconductors, clean energy, critical minerals, defence production and emerging technologies, and urged greater use of groups such as the India-US Trade Policy Forum to resolve market-access disputes more quickly.
The committee also urged India to boost higher-value services exports in artificial intelligence, digital health, engineering research, cloud computing, cybersecurity and financial technology, while promoting Global Capability Centres and greater US investment in Indian manufacturing.
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