Hailing the landmark agreements signed during the visit, especially in the fields of defence and technology, Garodia said that they would give a huge boost to bilateral trade and investment going forward.
He said that investment commitments made by some of the American tech giants such as Micron, Google, and Amazon clearly point to India becoming an important part of the global supply chain.
“The decision by General Electric (GE) to co-produce fighter jet engines with Hindustan Aeronautics through technology transfer is a big deal. It will help India position itself as a major defence production hub. The move would help bring hundreds of defence MSMEs up in the production value chain. It will bring fresh investment in the sector and create more jobs,” he said.
The EEPC India Chairman said that cooperation in the field of technology would give wings to start-ups and pave the way for joint innovation and co-production in several fields, especially artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space.
He noted that the US is the top market for Indian engineering goods and the fresh bilateral engagement would enormously benefit the sector.”Even as engineering goods shipments to many key markets fell in FY23 in the wake of economic slowdown and geo-political tensions, exports to the US remained positive. Engineering exports to the US grew 6.8% to US$ 18.67 billion in the financial year 2022-23 as against US$ 17.49 billion in 2021-22. This shows the significance of the US for the Indian engineering goods sector,” Garodia said.Garodia welcomed the decision by the US and India to mutually resolve six long-pending trade disputes as it will further push bilateral trade.
“Notably, the US has agreed to grant market access to Indian steel and aluminum products. As a result, a substantial chunk of steel and aluminum exports from India would be exempted from additional duties,” he said.
In June 2018, the US had levied additional duties of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminum products respectively under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act 1962.
