For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 2, 2006

U.S.-India Joint Statement on Trade

      President's Visit to India and Pakistan
      In Focus: International Trade

India and the United States agree that trade is essential to promoting global economic growth, development, freedom and prosperity.

We fully share the goal of completing the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA) before the end of 2006, and agree to work in partnership to help achieve this outcome.

During our discussions, we agreed to meet the task with ambition, determination and a readiness to contribute, consistent with our roles in global trade, and to keep the development dimension in focus. The system of trading rules to which our two great democracies have contributed immensely must be strengthened. Towards this global cause, we recommit ourselves and invite all key participants to demonstrate their leadership.

We agree that a successful Round depends upon progress in all areas of the negotiations if we are to meet our goal of promoting development through trade. We are committed to a DDA result consistent with the mandates already agreed that realize a substantial outcome in all three pillars of the agriculture negotiations (domestic support, export competition and market access); significant improvements in market opportunities in manufacturing and services; and appropriate disciplines, including transparency of regulatory practices in services. We also believe we should strengthen the rules that facilitate trade, where we have jointly made proposals. Work in all these areas must go hand in hand.

We agree to pursue an ambitious agenda for the first half of 2006,consistent with the important milestones that were set at the Hong Kong Ministerial for agriculture, manufacturing, services and other issues, and continuing to press for the goal of concluding the negotiations by the end of 2006.

We will continue to work to promote reform, respond to the concerns of developing countries, and create opportunities for growth for all. We are building the trading system of the future, where progressive liberalization and reform result in improvement in standards of living for all, in particular for the millions of poor across the developing world.

While working for a successful Doha Round, we also reaffirm our commitment to strengthen and deepen bilateral trading ties. We note with satisfaction the successful implementation of our initiative to create the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum and the CEO Forum to this end, and in particular the achievements in the areas of agricultural trade, investment, trade in services, the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, and spurring innovation and creativity. We agree to promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement by providing a vibrant intellectual property rights regime. As two dynamic economies with many complementary interests, the U.S. and India will seek to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties by expanding private sector contacts, dismantling barriers to trade, building trade capacities and strengthening trade-promoting institutions.

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