By IANS
Washington : The US-India Business Council (USIBC), representing 250 of the largest US companies investing in India, has launched a comprehensive initiative to bring down principal trade and investment barriers between the two countries.
Focusing on barriers of commercial significance to its members, the business advocacy group aims to build towards substantial market opening arrangements designed to bring broadly inclusive growth to both countries.
“USIBC’s ultimate goal is to unleash market forces supporting free trade and investment in a socially sustainable manner between the United States and India,” group president Ron Somers stated Thursday.
USIBC, working with stakeholders in the US and India, seeks to change the paradigm on US-India trade and develop broad-based support in both countries for a robust trade and investment relationship appropriate for these dynamic economies and strategic partners, the group said.
USIBC has selected the Washington DC-based international law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP to assist in developing and advancing this strategic trade initiative. The firm’s top-ranked international trade practice has extensive experience on US-India trade matters.
Susan Esserman, who chairs the firm’s International Department, will lead the Steptoe team. She has long involvement with India, both in government and as an attorney, and a proven track record in handling the most significant bilateral trade and commercial issues, it said.
Somers is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG), a small group of global trade experts and business leaders from both India and the US which was recently established to advise and support US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on moving the bilateral trade relationship forward.