Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to meet US representatives......

NEW DELHI: India will ask the Barack Obama administration to end its restrictive trade practices that have made exports
 to the US more expensive and raised costs of Indian IT companies operating there.

Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will meet US trade representative Ron Kirk next week and is expected to
make a strong case for withdrawal of the steep increase in professional visa fees and the additional duties imposed on
government imports. He is also expected to ask for speedy restoration of the generalized system of preferences scheme
that allows duty-free imports of specific goods from developing countries like India.

"The US has not responded to India's demand that the hike in visa fees and imposition of extra duties on government imports
should be withdrawn. We want them to take notice this time," a government official told ET.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Sharma will both be part of a CEO forum together with the USTR and treasury secretary
Tim Geithner in Washington on Thursday. "We expect the issues bothering us to be taken up strongly as CEOs from both sides
are also hit by the measures," the official said.

The increase in fees for H-1B and L1 visas for funding domestic programmes such as enhancing border security and meeting
health needs of 9/11 victims is bothering India as these implicitly target and discriminate against IT companies. India feels that
these could be inconsistent with the US multilateral commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The
additional 2% duty imposed on government purchases from countries like India that are not part of the government
procurement agreement of the WTO could also be against US commitments. "Minister Sharma has already written to the USTR
about India's concerns on these issues but there has not been any satisfactory response so far," the official said.

The issue of negativity towards Indian professionals and attempts to restrict free flow of services and professionals may also
be taken up. "IT body Nasscom has reported increased negativism in granting visas and harassment at the port of entry in the
US and this may be a point of discussion," he said. Nasscom had written to the US ambassador in India, Timothy Roemer, in November, on rejection of a larger number of business visas and visa interviews taking the form of interrogation.

India is expected to invite US pension funds and insurance companies to invest in its infrastructure debt fund and call for
collaborative projects in energy-efficient buildings, water, agriculture and health care.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com