Minister Goyal highlighted challenges being faced by business visitors from India due to visa processing time periods and requested the United States to augment processing, the joint statement said. The US welcomed India s efforts to modernize its patent system and registration processes across its IP offices, particularly through recently proposed amendments to the patent rules which aim towards streamlining compliance requirements and easing the process of patent filing and granting.--IANSpannu ksk India was the largest beneficiary of the GSP status in 2017, with $5.7 billion worth of goods being exported duty-free to the US.About 1,900 products such as engineering goods, chemicals and textiles were allowed to enter the US without an duty being levied on them. The US appreciated India s remarks, noting that the FDA has increased staffing to increase pharmaceutical inspections conducted by the agency. India emphasised the need to increase the number of inspections by the US Food and Drug Administration  FDA  in India to facilitate trade and continue to reduce the backlog. Commerce Minister Goyal reiterated India s interest in restoration of its beneficiary status under the Generalized System of Preferences program. New Delhi, Jan 13  IANS  India has requested the US to restore its status under the Generalized System of Preferences  GSP  program which was scrapped by the former Donald Trump administration in 2019.The issue came up at the India-US Trade Policy Forum  TPF  meeting here co-chaired by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai. They two ministers also welcomed the strong momentum in India-US bilateral trade in goods and services, which continued to rise and likely surpassed $200 billion in calendar year 2023 despite a challenging global trade environment. They also identified certain areas, including critical minerals, customs and trade facilitation, supply chains, and trade in high tech products, in which the US and India will develop an ambitious and forward looking roadmap for enhanced cooperation in order to achieve economically meaningful outcomes.
India requested the US to restore its GSP status, which was revoked in 2019, and highlighted challenges faced by business visitors due to visa processing delays. The US welcomed India's efforts to modernize its patent system and appreciated India's remarks on increasing FDA inspections to facilitate trade.