The United States is optimistic India will support Washington's plan to eliminate global tariffs on manufactured goods despite New Delhi's opposition to the proposal, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance William Lash believes differences over the US plan can be resolved which he says would increase India's trade with the United States by $38 billion.
"We are cautiously optimistic in all these proposals. I think it would be premature to prejudge the success rate on anything like this," Lash told reporters.
The US plan aims to dismantle duties in two steps, with the first being the elimination of all tariffs currently below five percent and the capping of all others at eight per cent by 2010.
India, along with other developing countries, had dismissed the US call to abolish tariffs on industrial and consumer goods by 2015, saying it would hurt poorer states for whom import tariffs are a major source of revenue.
"India cannot afford to constantly look at tariffs as a revenue source. The global marketplace is evolving and tariffs are blocking not just trade with developed states but also with other developing states," said Lash.
Many developing nations say it is unrealistic to think that all 144 member states of the World Trade Organisation could do away with tariffs.
Washington says the plan could benefit developing countries particularly as industrial goods make up 89 per cent of their total exports.
Lash said he had taken the issue of greater access to US textile exports including self-certification of chemical dyes to make it easier for industrial fabric producers to export them.
He said US textile exports were worth just $23 million compared to $2.6 billion that Indian textile producers ship to the United States.
United States is India's largest trade partner after European Union and takes a quarter of the country's exports annually.
