India-America trade ties must be more ambitious, says US envoy

India and the United States must strive towards a more ambitious and frictionless trade relationship, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said.

He was speaking at the 20th Indo-US Economic Summit organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi on Tuesday (September 26).

"The goal we should be setting for each other is how can we be more ambitious. Not just settle for another deal, not just settle for, as we have done in the last few months, bringing down the retaliatory tariffs and trade disputes between our countries. That's not good enough,” he said.

"I think we need to close our eyes and dream of what this relationship can be like even more than we would imagine today. How can we create a frictionless relationship?” Garcetti asked.

Noting the need to kill even the smallest of friction in trade between the two countries, he called for cutting tariffs and creating a more predictable regulatory environment.

Agriculture ties

The envoy also pitched for a robust agriculture trade between India and the US.

“This is a great agricultural country and so is the United States. We want India to be one of our top three markets in the world. Here, the productivity in dairy and other areas has levelled off," Garcetti said.

The ambassador lauded the G20 Summit in New Delhi and congratulated India on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon.

The theme of the 20th Indo-US Economic Summit is 'Sharing ideas and potential for a sustainable partnership between India and the US for the next 25 years'.

The Ambassador said both countries were looking at partnerships in the commercial space segment.

(With agency inputs)