The US Trade Representative (USTR) in its voluminous annual report on trade has said that India’s GDP growth along with indirect taxation reforms could support considerably more US exports to the country in future. It also said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in India, could provide an impetus to the creation of a common internal market that significantly lowers transaction costs.
USTR has stated that India's new National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy could protect US innovations. It also pointed out that while these reforms are encouraging, there has also been a general trend of tariff increases in India, which reflects an active pursuit of import substitution policies and also said that the US will press India to make meaningful progress in relation to these ambitious goals in 2017. However, it noted that the existing Indian trade and regulatory policies have inhibited the development of a more robust trade and investment relationship.
The report further said that, the US Trade Representative will follow through with work plans agreed on during the US India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) in October 2016, which will include convening digital video conferences and in-person meetings on intellectual property rights, promoting investment in manufacturing, agriculture and trade in goods and services. It added that India and US have set a target of increasing bilateral trade to $500 billion.