To counter China, India eyes critical minerals pact with US | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: In their bid to counter China‘s dominance, India and the US are seeking to bolster their partnership on critical minerals by jointly tapping third countries to secure their supply chains, with New Delhi keen to ramp up the engagement through a pact in the crucial sphere as a precursor to a free trade agreement in the future.
“We have signed an MoU, which will be operationalised by the mines ministry.The idea is to secure our supply chains… I have suggested that the critical mineral MoU be converted to a critical mineral partnership agreement and become a starting point for an FTA,” commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told reporters Saturday. The US govt, at present, is not pursuing trade agreements with any country.
India, along with the US, Australia and Japan are working to secure the critical minerals supply chain, ranging from mining to processing and final use as they seek to catch up with China that controls most of the mines and production facilities. Japan and the US had signed a partnership agreement, which will entitle non-American companies to get advantages, including duty benefits.
A decision is unlikely in the coming months given that US presidential election is just three weeks away.
Goyal sounded upbeat on the overall outcome of his recent discussions with US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo, US trade representative Katherine Tai and top industry and business leaders, suggesting that almost all ticklish trade issues had been addressed by both sides.
Apart from investment interest, the minister said, there is keenness on co-development in crucial areas such as pharma, digital technology, telecom and defence, along with technology transfer. “There is massive change seen in the intellectual property system. They are seeing a perceptible difference,” he said.
Goyal said that there was a nudge to American semiconductor companies to invest in India with a fabrication unit also expected in the coming months. He underlined that tourism will have a crucial role in the bilateral business ties with govt planning an investment centre in New York and Silicon Valley in the coming months to work with American investors.