First meeting under India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue scheduled for May

New Delhi and Washington announced the formation of the Dialogue during US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to India in March 2023. The Dialogue aims to address export controls, explore ways of enhancing high technology commerce, and facilitate technology transfers.

“Both sides recognized 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…,” both sides had announced at the time.

The Dialogue will be led by India’s foreign secretary and the under secretary for Industry and Security in the US Department of Commerce.

Rozman, who serves as US assistant secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, was in New Delhi to speak with Indian officials and industry to discuss dual-use export controls. “Dual-use” is a term used to refer to technologies that can have both civilian and military applications.

The India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue, Kendler argued, would prove a building block for the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). The iCET, which is helmed by the national security advisers in both countries, aims to build up cooperation in a host of critical technologies like semiconductors, biotechnology, advanced materials and rare-earth processing technology among others.

Kendler likened the Dialogue as an attempt to foster greater security for both countries through the use of export controls.

“We focus on our common interest in secure trade. Export controls provide that foundation or building block to protect global peace and security while not unduly interfering with commercial commerce,” she said in a press briefing here in New Delhi.

“Robust strategic trade controls enable us to share technology that we can’t share with others. Our strategic trade dialogue, shared commitment to export controls paves the way for this high tech cooperation,” she added.

Apart from meetings with the Indian government, US officials also met with industry bodies like Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association, the US India Business Council, NASSCOM and the American Chamber of Commerce. The discussion centred around mechanisms within the American strategic trade controls system that would allow Indian industries to facilitate faster trade.

Russia and China also featured in the discussions. Despite Western technology sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has attempted to acquire technology for its military from third countries.

“We’re actively following the trade diversion and backfilling data very closely and taking responsive measures. So we’re looking forward to continued dialogue with India and are very excited to be working on expanding opportunities for cooperation and collaboration in high tech trade,” Kendler said.

“China’s a difficult question because, they have this military civil fusion strategy, which makes it very difficult for Indian companies and US companies to know their end users, We ask the companies to do due diligence. If you don’t know whether the government is going to take over a technology, if you don’t know whether the entity you’re shipping to is sharing that commercial technology with a military actor, it’s really difficult for industry and we want to make sure that we’re providing the best advice we can,” Kendler added.