Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met US Secretary of Commerce Gina M Raimondo on Friday to discuss cooperation in various sectors that could unlock new trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.

The Commercial Dialogue, which is being held on Friday, is a cooperative undertaking encompassing regular government-to-government meetings to be held in conjunction with private sector meetings, with an aim to facilitate trade, and maximise investment opportunities across a broad range of economic sectors.

Gina M Raimondo on Thursday said semiconductor was a shared priority and India and the US are implementing a semiconductor programme. “An MoU would be signed on semiconductor during this trip,” she said during a press briefing yesterday.

“Special thanks to Mr (Piyush) Goyal, my counterpart and also a special thanks to Minister (Rajnath) Singh who invited me to his home yesterday with his family, to celebrate Holi with him which was a fantastic experience,” she added.

Raimondo said she was extremely optimistic. “We’ve been optimistic for US-India relations,” she added. “Our partnership with India is one of our most consequential relationships and I think one of our most promising bilateral relationships, as we look forward.”

The reason for that, she said is that “we share a common set of values along with a commitment to promoting free open-based order to both the security and prosperity and we also share the opportunity to expand our economic relationship.”

The last India-US Commercial Dialogue was held in February 2019. Since then, due to the pandemic and other factors it could not be held. It is proposed to re-launch the Commercial Dialogue with a strategic outlook with focus on supply chain resiliency and diversification and new emerging areas, after a gap of three years.

Earlier, India-US CEO Forum was soft-launched by the Indian commerce and industry minister and US Secretary of Commerce on November 9, 2022, via video-conference for which identified key priorities were increasing supply chain resilience, enhancing energy security and reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, advancing inclusive digital trade; and facilitating post-pandemic economic recovery, especially for small businesses.

India is the ninth largest trading partner for the US, while the US is India’s largest trading partner and the largest export destination, according to a statement of the ministry of commerce and industry. The bilateral trade in goods saw very robust growth during CY2022, surpassing USD 131 billion in goods, thus doubling since 2014 (in 8 years) while total trade in goods and services is expected to cross USD 180 billion.

According to the ministry statement, US is also the third biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India, and the US is one of the top five investment destinations for India.