New Delhi: India and US have decided to double its two-way trade to $40 billion by 2008 with the focus towards small and medium enterprises sector.
"Our current level of trade at $21 billion is way below potential. We should aim to achieve a trade target of $40 billion in the next three years," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said at a FICCI meeting on Saturday.
Attending the FICCI meeting, US Trade Representative Rob Portman said that doubling the trade in three years was an ambitious target and assured the support of US Administration.
India's total merchandise trade with US stands at about $21 billion.
Kamal Nath said that it was equally important to diversify the trade basket, and added that the US must also remove the non-tariff barriers on Indian products.
"While large US corporates already had a presence in India, none of the American SMEs (small and medium enterprise) were looking at the country as a possible trade and investment destination," added Kamal Nath.
"SMEs are looking at central and South America and Europe but not towards India. These enterprises are the key to scale up economic cooperation," he said.
Portman, who is visiting India for the first time, is in Delhi to take part in the first meeting of the newly set-up India-US Trade Policy Forum.
The Forum, co-chaired by the two ministers, would cover mutual consultations on both bilateral and multilateral issues.
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