India, US ink pact on semiconductor supply chain

The Minister and the Secretary underscored the importance of the Commercial Dialogue in sustaining momentum on shared economic priorities.

India and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the semiconductor supply chain and innovation partnership during the India-USA Commercial Dialogue, held after a gap of three years.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, co-chaired and re-launched the Commercial Dialogue in accordance with the U.S.-India Joint Leaders' Statement of September 2021, with a renewed focus on future and emerging areas of bilateral commercial partnership.

The Commercial Dialogue is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, develop inclusive and fair trade and investment policies, and leverage the interests of the private sector in pursuing new market opportunities that advance prosperity in both countries.

The Minister and the Secretary noted with satisfaction that the bilateral goods and services trade has almost doubled since 2014, exceeding US $191 billion in 2022, signaling accelerated growth benefitting both countries. With the United States becoming India's largest trading partner in 2022, both sides will take further steps to enhance their commercial collaboration and tap into market potential across multiple sectors. Both sides envision further coordination on how best to foster an enabling environment for increased investment, including by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-up companies.

Secretary Raimondo took note of India's initiatives to bolster its infrastructure sector, including the National Infrastructure Pipeline and PM GatiShakti National Master Plan. She also took note of the objectives of India's National Logistics Policy, which seeks to boost trade and enable digital transformation in India's logistics sphere.

Both sides expressed a shared interest in exploring collaboration based on mutual trust and confidence, as furthering the economic integration of like-minded countries that share democratic values will bolster transparency, resilience, and security in global supply chains and boost economic prosperity in both countries, as well as the Indo-Pacific region.

They welcomed the recently launched U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which elevates and expands the strategic technology partnership between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of our two countries. The Minister and the Secretary intend for their collaboration to support iCET's vision to build a trusted technology value chain partnership between the countries and make possible greater cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, co-development and co-production, and connectivity across our innovation ecosystems.

The Minister and the Secretary underscored the importance of the Commercial Dialogue in sustaining momentum on shared economic priorities. Towards that end, they confirmed their intention to convene before the end of 2023 a mid-year review led by senior government officials from both sides. The mid-year review will allow each side to carry forward the below priorities identified under the Commercial Dialogue, implementing a roadmap based on the Minister's and the Secretary's economic vision and ensuring robust private sector engagement to inform ongoing efforts.

Both sides recognised the need for increased bilateral strategic and high technology trade and collaboration given the shared priority of building resilient and trusted global supply chains and the mutual interest in taking forward the outcomes of iCET. In that context, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Indian Ministry of External Affairs plan to launch an India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue to address export controls, explore ways of enhancing high technology commerce, and facilitating technology transfer between the two countries. The Dialogue will be led by the Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, on the Indian side and by the Under Secretary for Industry and Security, Department of Commerce, for the U.S. side.

The Minister and the Secretary share a concern that cyber threats such as unauthorized access, ransomware, and data destruction are growing, as is the need to protect against those threats. This need applies not only to the growing e-commerce, digital payments, and related services sectors, but also to connected manufacturing and critical infrastructure. Secretary Raimondo welcomed the opportunity to explore the potential for mutually beneficial engagement on cyber security and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as information sharing on cyber security and AI resources and approaches under established bilateral mechanisms such as the Commercial Dialogue.

Inclusive Digital Growth

Secretary Raimondo commended Minister Goyal for the impressive scale of India's ambitions to increase ICT connectivity, promote digital inclusion, and improve efficiency in the delivery of government services through the use of digital tools. Taking note of the rapid pace of digitalization in our countries, Secretary Raimondo expressed interest in exploring ways to better reflect our "trusted partnership" in the digital realm.

While continuing to work on a range of digital trade issues in the U.S.-India Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Working Group and the Trade Policy Forum, both sides recognized the importance of cross border data flow in accordance with applicable domestic policies and legal frameworks. Both sides intend to continue engaging on cross border data flows and other relevant issues, including in appropriate multilateral fora.

Both Ministers also expressed interest in working together in developing next generation standards in telecommunications, including 6G. They anticipate efforts to include cooperation between relevant government agencies, standards organisations, and industry bodies.

Finally, both sides intend to further work together in validation and deployment of trusted and secure next generation telecom network equipment, including Open RAN, as well as in subsequent generations of telecommunications infrastructure.