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Economic ties are key-- not military ties Formatted: Default Paragraph Font, Font: (Default)
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India On, 3-17-2018, "Bilateral trade a big friction in India-US ties: White House," No
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Publication, https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/bilateral-trade-big-
friction-india-us-ties-white-house-donald-trump-narendra-modi/story/272842.html Formatted: Style 13 pt Bold,Cite,Style Style Bold + 12
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The US shares very strong ties with India and is in favour of free, fair and reciprocal 12 pt,Style Style Bo... +,Old Cite,Style Style Bold + 10
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trade with it, a senior White House official has said even as he asserted that the
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bilateral trade remained one aspect of the relationship where "the most friction" is underline
experienced. The remarks came days after US President Donald Trump publicly raised the issue of high Formatted: Default Paragraph Font, Font: (Default)
import duty by India on motorcycles at least three times in a month and threatened a Arial, 11 pt, Not Bold
reciprocal duty on Indian imports. "The commitment to the relationship is very strong on Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
both sides. If you had to point to a part of the relationship where you have the most friction, it certainly Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
would be the trade side," the official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters yesterday. The official was pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
giving a clarity on the various aspects of the American ties in South Asia, including India. Noting that there had been Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
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concerns raised about the trade deficit with India, the official said it had come down Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: (Default) Roboto, 12
slightly more recently, based largely on India's imports of US energy. "This administration is pt, Font color: Auto
looking for a free, fair and reciprocal trade with India. And so is seeking to see some of those tariffs such as on a Harley Davidson
motorcycles that are there. US is determined to find the opportunities to increase trade investment with India and does expec t that Formatted: Normal,Normal/Card, Pattern: Clear
there will be some sort of reciprocal dealings on the trade issues," the official said He noted that Indian motorcycles that are
imported into the US did not have any tariffs on them. "And so the president has been clear that he's looking for a fairly reciprocal
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trade with India," the official said. Responding to a series of question, the official said that the Trump Administration
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was constantly talking with India on trade issues . Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who was in Washington Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
DC this week, met US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. At the same time the official indicated that trade Char,Intense Emphasis111,Intense
issues were unlikely to be part of the soon-to-be held two plus two dialogue between the Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: (Default) Roboto, 12
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two countries involving their respective foreign and defence ministers . In the absence of the
Secretary of State, the two-plus-two dialogue has now been delayed and is likely to be held later this year after Mike Pompeo is Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
confirmed by the Senate. "I think, it's an ongoing discussion that we're having on the trade issues. "The Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
two plus two is focused a great deal on a defence security cooperation, diplomatic political cooperation just by virtue of the Defence pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
Minister and Defence Secretary and the External Affairs Minister and Secretary of State. The trade issues are more of Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
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an ongoing dialogue that we're having with India ," the official said.
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Economics outweigh Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
Moore 18 Evan Moore is a writer for the National Review. Strengthen the U.S.–India pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
Relationship (https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/india-united-states-relations- Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
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trade-military-strategy-alliance/) Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: (Default) Roboto, 12
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Trade has transformed U.S.–India relations. “Bilateral trade has more than doubled in the last
decade from $45 billion in 2006 to more than $114 billion in 2016,” as the State Department’s Formatted ...
Alice Wells recently told Congress. In 2014, President Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Formatted ...
Modi pledged to increase U.S.–India trade fivefold, and in the past two years, U.S. foreign Formatted ...
direct investment in India has grown 500 percent. However, U.S.–India trade remains
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far short of its full potential. The president promised in his State of the Union address
Tuesday that “we will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones.” If he is serious,
the president should negotiate a bilateral investment treaty to further promote U.S.–
India trade. For comparison: Joshua Meltzer and Harsha Singh of the Brookings Institution
note that trade between America and South Korea is twice as large as that between America
and India, even though South Korea’s economy is 40 percent smaller than India’s. Another vital
step for the administration is to support India’s effort to join the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum (APEC). India has sought to join APEC for more than 20 years, and in
2010 the organization lifted a moratorium on new members. Despite this, Washington
has not seized the opportunity to support New Delhi. “India in APEC would help offset the
now overwhelming influence of the Chinese economy,” writes Alyssa Ayres of the Council on
Foreign Relations, “while also embedding India in a forum that would nudge it toward further
economic reform.” For his part, Prime Minister Modi took office in 2014 promising
ambitious economic reforms. He quickly unveiled his “Make in India” initiative to boost
the country’s manufacturing sector from 17 percent of the country’s GDP to 25 percent
over the next decade. Recently, India introduced a goods and services tax to replacing
existing state and local levies in favor of a common national tax. Overall, however, Modi’s
policies have fallen fall short of his promises. As the 2019 Indian election approaches, he
should not shy away from pursuing dramatic structural reforms. Derek Scissors of the American
Enterprise Institute recommends allowing Indian manufacturers to hire more people, privatizing
banks, improving market access, and permitting full private ownership of land. Indeed, while
India is expected to become the world’s fifth-largest economy this year, there is still much
New Delhi can do to promote economic growth. As Wells noted, India still has “significant
tariff and non-tariff barriers, subsidies, localization policies, restrictions on investment, and
intellectual property concerns that limit market access and impede U.S. exporters and
businesses from entering the Indian market.” The Commerce Department reports that India has
levied an array of tariffs on U.S. goods such as medical equipment, automobiles and
motorcycles, rubber, alcoholic beverages, and textiles. What makes this particularly frustrating
is that “India has considerable flexibility to change tariff rates at any time,” leaving U.S. Formatted: Heading 4,Topic Heading 4,Tag
exporters with tremendous uncertainty. If U.S.–India trade is to meet its full potential, then the Formatted: Font: (Default) Roboto, 8 pt, Font color:
relationship needs to be rooted in policies that are free and fair. Auto, Not Superscript/ Subscript
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Immigration is key Formatted: Default Paragraph Font, Font: (Default)
Center For American Progress Task Force, ND On U.S.: Forging an Indispensable Democratic Roboto, 8 pt, Font color: Auto, Pattern: Clear
Partnership," Center for American Progress, Formatted: Font: (Default) Roboto, 8 pt, Font color:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2018/01/14/444786/united-states-<span
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class="searchword">india</span>-forging-indispensable-democratic-partnership/
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No conversation about people to people ties would be complete without addressing
immigration. While the issue of immigration has become politically controversial—especially in the United States—a well- Formatted: Font: (Default) Roboto, 8 pt, Font color:
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regulated immigration system benefits economies. And yet, too often the U.S.-India relationship has been
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tied up over the issue of immigration, in particular the H1-B visas provided to Indian
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employees of U.S. technology companies. But these controversies obscure the broader
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issues and the importance of immigration to both countries. There are 2.4 million Indian immigrants in
America,66and more than 4 million people in the United States identify as Indian.67 India itself has the 12th-largest immigrant
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population in the world.68 Indians
and Indian Americans have made invaluable contributions to Formatted: Font: Roboto, 8 pt
America and the American economy, and with the ties between families and peoples of Formatted: Font: Roboto, 8 pt
the two countries running so deep, an open, transparent, and fair immigration system is Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
not only a necessity for the American economy, but also for the strength of the U.S.- Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
India partnership. pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
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Restrictive immigration policies are a sticking point for US and India Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: Roboto, Font color:
Neil G. Ruiz, 9-23-2014, "Moving Beyond the Immigration Sticking Point in the India-U.S. Auto, Pattern: Clear
Relationship," Brookings, https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/moving-beyond-the- Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
immigration-sticking-point-in-the-india-u-s-relationship/ Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
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Indian immigrants are the third-largest immigrant group in the United States. In 2012, they made up the largest Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
proportion (64 percent) of temporary immigrants entering the U.S. on an H-1B visa for highly Char,Intense Emphasis111,Intense
specialized workers. Indians also represent the second largest share (15 percent) of all foreign students Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: Roboto, Font color:
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studying in the U.S. on an F-1 visa. The large majority of Indian H-1B and F-1 visa holders either work in a science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupation or are pursuing a degree in the STEM fields (75 percent of all Indian Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
students in U.S. higher education). Over the last couple of years, U.S.immigration policy towards India has been Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
both controversial and uncertain, motivated on two fronts. First, protectionists in the U.S. claim pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
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that there is no shortage of STEM workers in U.S. labor markets, accusing Indian-headquartered Char,Intense Emphasis111,Intense
information technology (IT) and outsourcing companies of using the H-1B and the L-1 Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: Roboto, Font color:
intercompany transfer visa to import cheap labor into the United States. This led to the U.S. Auto, Pattern: Clear
Senate passing a comprehensive immigration bill in 2013 that would essentially ban companies Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
that employ between 50 to 75 percent of their U.S. workforce on H-1B or L-1 visas—which Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
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would include all Indian IT companies. Companies that are popular for providing services to U.S. firms, such as
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Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro, also have a large business of “insourcing” jobs into the United States. Their
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U.S. business model relies on hiring workers (who are mostly on H-1B or L-1 visas) to provide Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: Roboto, Font color:
technology-related services to American companies. India’s tech industry argues that their IT Auto
companies contribute enormously to the U.S. economy and have a hard time filling these jobs Formatted: Style Underline,Underline,Style Bold
from the American talent pool. American-based IT companies like Accenture, Deloitte, and IBM that are in the same Underline,Intense Emphasis1,Style,apple-style-span + 6
business of providing professional services with a much smaller proportion of their U.S. workforce on an H -1B or L-1 visa stand to pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
benefit from the Senate restrictions. An
unintended consequence of the Senate bill could be stifled Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
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competition for these IT-staffing services. American-based IT companies could charge higher fees for these client Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: Roboto, Font color:
services and Indian IT companies with visa restrictions would be less competitive. But with no movement Auto, Pattern: Clear
by the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a similar immigration reform bill as the Senate, these potential restrictions no longer
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exist, at least in the short-term. Second, with the 85,000
H-1B visa cap being reached within the first week
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that the U.S. government accepts applications, finding a visa for Indian workers in the U.S. has pt,Bold,Kern at 16 pt,Intense Emphasis11,Intense
become problematic. Several high-profile legal cases exposed violations made by Indian IT Emphasis2,HHeading 3 + 12 pt,ci,Cards + Font: 12 pt
companies for using non-employment visas for employment purposes. For example, there was a $34 Char,Intense Emphasis111,Intense
million settlement last year between Infosys and the U.S. government over allegations that Infosys misused business visitor (B-1) Emphasis1111,c,Bo,B,cite,8., Font: Roboto, Font color:
visas, for workers that require an H-1B visa—allegations that the company denies. Auto
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