India and United States announce settlement of Poultry dispute

India and the United States have announced the settlement of their World Trade Organisation (WTO) poultry dispute. New Delhi in turn has agreed to reduce tariffs on a range of American products. They include the frozen turkey, frozen duck and fresh, frozen, dried and processed blueberries and cranberries.

This was announced in a joint statement issued after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden.

 “The leaders lauded the settlement of the seventh and last outstanding World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute between India and the United States. This follows the unprecedented settlement of six outstanding bilateral trade disputes in the WTO in June 2023,” the statement said.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai too announced the resolution of the outstanding WTO poultry dispute with India in a separate statement.

“As part of the agreement, India also agreed to reduce tariffs on certain U.S. products, including frozen turkey, frozen duck, fresh blueberries and cranberries, frozen blueberries and cranberries, dried blueberries and cranberries, and processed blueberries and cranberries. These tariff cuts will expand economic opportunities for U.S. agricultural producers in a critical market and help bring more U.S. products to customers in India,” said a statement issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.“In August, Ambassador Tai met with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, PiyushGoyal, following the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers’ Meeting. During that meeting, Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal discussed this WTO dispute and expressed their shared desire to reach a solution soon,” the statement said.

“Resolving this last outstanding WTO dispute represents an important milestone in the U.S.-India trade relationship, while reducing tariffs on certain U.S. products enhances crucial market access for American agricultural producers,” the statement said.