Enhancing the US-India Trade Partnership

Floor Speech

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, India has been our strategic partner for years and we should continue to strengthen this relationship. One way to do so is by enhancing our trade partnership. U.S.-India bilateral trade is nearly $100 billion--up from barely $15 billion in 2000, but we can do better. Unfortunately, India's recent trend towards raising trade barriers has hampered this relationship, and both American firms and American workers have been on the losing end of these policies.

These discriminatory policies jeopardize manufacturing and other jobs back at home in Pennsylvania. For example, India's system of cascading tariffs, taxes, and other import charges is often cost-prohibitive. The pronounced disparity between bound rates (rates that generally cannot be exceeded under WTO rules) and applied rates (the actual rates charged) means that India's average applied rate is among the highest in the world. Furthermore, India's trade-weighted average tariff rate is 8.2 percent versus the U.S. rate of 1.6 percent, burdening U.S. manufacturers and making U.S. exports cost-prohibitive for Indian consumers. Lastly, India's tariff schedule is hard to find in one public place and this lack of transparency and accessibility is also burdensome.

By resolving these issues and seeking greater market-based reforms, we can strengthen the U.S.-India trade relationship and unleash the economic energy that will create prosperity for both the U.S. and India. This is a future worth striving towards.

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