India takes up visa, trade issues with US

NEW DELHI: India has raised the issues of market access for agrarian and pharma products, and high visa costs with the US during an official-level meeting on Tuesday. Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia took up the matter with Deputy US Trade Representative Robert Holleyman.

The meeting was held to decide the agenda, modalities and dates for convening the ninth round of the ministerial-level meeting of the Trade Policy Forum (TPF), to be held in the US by the end of October.

Some of the key issues flagged by the commerce secretary include the discriminatory policy towards Indian workers, who end up losing their social security contributions due to discrepancy in the visa and social security programmes of the US, the commerce department said in a statement.

Issues of high visa costs and corresponding higher wage implications and its impact on India’s IT Industry and professionals were also discussed. New rules under the US Immigration Reforms and Executive Visa Guidelines are due to come into force on August 19.

Teaotia suggested a separate working group to discuss the issue of market access for Indian pharmaceuticals and Ayush products as well as farm produce such as rice, mangoes, pomegranates and table grapes.