Top US business groups call for fair trade with India

Alleging discriminatory action by Indian government against the US corporates, over the past one year, an association of top American business lobby has asked the Obama Administration to raise its concerns with New Delhi during secretary of state John Kerry's visit next week.
 
"Today, we are calling on the Obama administration to raise concerns immediately at the highest levels of the Indian government and to press for real results," Linda Dempsey, vice president, International Economic affairs for National Association of Manufacturers told reporters during a conference call.

Announcing the launch of Alliance for Fair Trade with India (AFTI), Dempsey said the India visit of Kerry next week was a critical opportunity to take this action.

The alliance is co-chaired by the National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center.

"AFTI members want a level playing field and a fair shake in India. We want India to end its unfair trade practices and to make sure those trade practices are not repeated in the future, she said.

"We hope and expect the Indian government will respond positively and will work constructively with the business community to address these concerns," she said.

"But if India does not act quickly to comply with its international obligations, we believe that all trade and diplomatic options must be on the table. To have the kind of strategic partnership we all want, India must play by the rules," Dempsey said.

The NAM would co-chair AFTI, which was made up of 14 business groups representing just about  every industry within the US economy. Last week, the NAM, along with other key industry associations, in a letter to president Obama raised concerns over the harm that India's unfair trade practices were imposing on manufacturers in the US.

''India's recent discriminatory and unfair actions are harming American jobs and have put at risk the $60 billion trade relationship we have with our fourth largest trading partner,'' said NAM president and CEO Jay Timmons.

''We are asking the Obama Administration to engage India's government at the highest levels to put an end to these harmful practices and to prevent this from happening again. The NAM is committed to working with our industry partners to ensure that India abides by global trade rules to protect America's competitiveness.''

India's harmful policies, such as requiring domestic production of everything from information technology and clean energy equipment to medicines and medical devices, posed a direct threat to American jobs.