With the pandemic-driven restrictions lifted worldwide, the Indian-US Commercial Dialogue will likely take place on March 10th after a wide gap of almost three years.             

The commercial dialogue between India and the US will likely take place after an extended gap of nearly three years on March 10th, 2023. It aims at discussing issues related to trade and investment, strengthening the economic ties between the nations. Previously conducted in the pre-pandemic period, the summit was hampered by the COVID-19 restrictions.

The commercial ministry commented that the dialogue is now relaunched with a strategic outlook and an induced focus on supply chain residency and diversification in new emerging areas in recent times. The India-US CEO Forum and Commercial Dialogue will be addressed by the US Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, on her visit to India between 7-10th of March, in the discussion over varied sectors to unlock new trade and investment opportunities between the two democratic regions.

The Commercial Dialogue is critically a cooperative undertaking, including regular government-to-government meetings, anticipated to be held in conjunction with private sector meetings, facilitating trade and maximizing investment opportunities across economic sectors. The Indian minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, and the US Secretary of Commerce soft-launched the CEO Forum earlier on November 9th, 2022, via a video conference.

The key priorities of the CEO Forum are to increase supply chain resilience, and enhance energy security, in addition to reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, and advancing the inclusive digital trade for small-scaled businesses. India and the US play a crucial role as trading partners mutually, with the bilateral trade in goods crossing nearly 131 billion USD. The total trade in goods and services is anticipated to soar up to 180 billion USD in upcoming years.

The US holds the fame of emerging as the third biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India and is ranked one of the five top destinations for the latter. Hence, the US’s visit to the Commercial Dialogue aims at furthering trade and commercial ties between the two democratic nations, with the bilateral trade value for goods surpassing 65.39 billion USD. India has received increased funding of nearly five billion USD in FDI from the US in the past annual period.